


Forget Me Not

by Starr_Williams



Series: Isle of Stone and Steel [2]
Category: Gargoyles (Cartoon)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-17 00:35:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 35
Words: 59,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29833335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starr_Williams/pseuds/Starr_Williams
Summary: Goliath and Elisa have reached a new point in their relationship, but Elisa is hesitant to take that next step. Just as she makes her choice, she is taken hostage by John Canmore. Will the clan be able to find her before the unthinkable happens, or will Elisa be lost to them forever?
Relationships: Goliath/Elisa Maza
Series: Isle of Stone and Steel [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2187018
Comments: 3
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

Tucked deep within the tall buildings of Manhattan, only a few blocks away from Central Park, was a small brick building belonging within the ranks of the NYPD. The 23rd precinct, to be exact. Within its hallowed walls, many an officer had come and gone, dedicating their life to serve and protect those people living on the island of Manhattan.

They weren’t the only ones doing so, however. High above the city, living amongst the ancient stone walls of a scottish castle, was a clan of Gargoyles. Not the hideous stone statuary that most people immediately thought of when they thought of gargoyles, but living, breathing beings. 

Centuries ago, Gargoyles were considered guardians for castles and strongholds throughout the world. Mighty warriors, they were fearsome to look upon, and even more so to fight against. 

Their species had a strong sense of right and wrong, and a need to protect any and all under their care. 

During the day, however, they were helpless. Locked in the stone rejuvenating sleep that is unique to only the Gargoyle kind, they were under the care of the humans that they protected at night. For centuries, this arrangement worked.

Then, 100 years ago, that all changed for one clan. Betrayed by the humans that they had sworn to protect, all but five members of one scottish clan had been destroyed while they slept.

The remaining clan members were placed under a magical spell, only to reawaken when the castle that they stood upon was lifted above the clouds.

Fast forward to a few years ago, and one rich man found out about the spell and had the castle moved atop the tallest building in Manhattan. 

When their home had been transported to Manhattan, the spell that had kept them locked in a stone sleep had been broken. While they had been encased within their enchanted sleep, time had continued to move forward, essentially leaving the clan and their ancient ways behind.

It had taken some time, but the clan had finally managed to adapt to the modern time in which they had found themselves. Due, in no small part, to their friendship with Elisa Maza, a Detective within the ranks of the NYPD who shared the same protective instincts that were held so earnestly by all Gargoyles. 

The Gargoyles adopted the island of Manhattan as their new protectorate, and sought to make the streets safe for those encased on the island of stone and steel.

The night before had been no different. Elisa had gone on her nightly patrols and, with the help of the clan members, they had successfully made the streets a little safer for those in their protectorate. Now, with the sun rising, the Gargoyles had retreated to their home high on top of the Aerie Building in Downtown Manhattan and Elisa was once again inside the brick and mortar walls of her precinct station house.

It was Tuesday morning, and the meeting room within the 23rd precinct was filled to capacity. While not a rare occurrence, it was far from a regular one. It was rare when all available officers were required to be in attendance. 

The message had come down the pipeline about an hour before, when most officers began counting down until the end of their shift. For every officer to be called, it was something big, and potentially dangerous. 

The last time that had happened was after the World Trade Center bombing back in 1993. Elisa was still the “new kid on the block”, but remembered the grim looks of all who had been in that meeting with her. Looking around, she saw much of the same expressions now, despite the loud chatter going on.

At least half of the officers in the room had been on the clock all night, and the rest were just starting their day. The officers were restless, wanting to know what had caused this meeting, what was going on, and to get this meeting over with.

Elisa Maza and Matt Bluestone had been on duty all night. Both NYPD detectives, they were among those hoping it was over soon so that they could go home. In reality, they should have been off the clock an hour ago.

The room was buzzing with the voices of the officers speculating what the meeting was about and why all the secrecy. 

Finally, right on time and not a moment late, Senior Officer Morgan strode into the room. “Alright people,” His deep voice boomed, commanding the attention of everyone in the room. “Listen up.”

Officer Morgan had only been stationed at the 23rd precinct for a few years, but he had already become one of the more respected patrol officers in the station. He was a father figure to the rookies he trained, a friend to many others and a damn good leader to all. He had proven himself to be a natural leader, and as such, he was put in charge of running the meetings when higher personnel weren’t mandatory or were unable to be there themselves.

He had joined up at the 23rd not long after the Gargoyles had first made their appearance in Manhattan. In fact, that was where he and Elisa had first met. Elisa still had a feeling that she was the only person outside of HR and the Chief who knew Officer Morgan’s full name. 

Morgan L. Morgan III. 

Mind wandering a bit, Elisa had to admit that every time she thought about his full name, she cringed. Morgan’s parents were either mean… or his mama had been on some heavy duty pain medication when she was naming him in the hospital.

Shaking her head over her fellow officer’s unfortunate moniker, Elisa fell silent with the rest of the room and did her best to make her tired brain concentrate.

Morgan handed off a tall stack of papers to one of the officers in the front row to help distribute. 

“Our station was contacted less than an hour ago with information that there is going to be a protest today that may cause some issues downtown. Among other things,” He continued, “These people have been very vocal in trying to get attention for their ‘cause’, and they may have people coming out to counter with a protest of their own. I don’t need to tell you that is something that no one needs.”

Every officer in the room nodded their agreement.

Elisa was nodding with everyone when she finally got one of the flyers herself. Taking one and passing the stack to Matt, she glanced at it. Freezing, her eyes were drawn to the name of the group and their mission statement. 

‘Join the Quarrymen,’ the headline read in a bold red font across the top, ‘Putting humans first, while removing the Abomination threat.’

Elisa shared an uneasy glance with Matt. There had been rumors of anti-gargoyle organizations popping up, but the Quarrymen were the most vocal… and violent. If they were planning a protest rally, things could go very wrong very quickly.

And if the rumors were true and people were planning on countering their protest, the situation could get explosive.

“We are needing everyone available this afternoon to help keep this event under control,” Morgan continued. “We want our presence there to be visible, so we need everyone in full uniform.”

There were several groans in the room. A good portion of the people in the room were just ending their shifts. If they were able to go to sleep right this second, they  _ might _ get a full 8 hours before having to be back at work for the rally. In Elisa’s case, with commute times to and from home, she might get a solid 5 hours.

Despite the bitching and moaning, they would do it. They would do it because they were needed. They would do it because they loved their city. They would do it because they loved the job.

But they didn’t have to like it.

The particulars were gone over. A city bus would be coming by the station around 4:30 in the afternoon to transport them to the site of the rally. Overtime had been pre authorized for this mess, so no one had to worry about their hours being cut later on to save on payroll. Finally, all officers were to report to one of four mobile stations that was going to be set up around the rally point. Everyone was to check in and check out in person, not just radio contact.

One more round of groans, and the meeting broke.

Elisa was slow to get up, digesting the information from the flyer about the “Quarrymen” group. They had been a rising name in the Gargoyle vs. Human debate, and was making a name for themselves. A good amount of them were in court or jail with frightening regularity in their increasing violent attacks on personal property.

They were smashing any kind of statuary that even vaguely resembled a Gargoyle.

The clan was safe for now, spending their days atop their castle, under the watchful eyes of David Xanatos, one time enemy and now friend of the clan.

Elisa was absently twisting the ring on her finger. It was an old ring, centuries old, in fact. The ring had somehow managed to survive, having been found wedged in between two stones when the castle had been uprooted and moved to Manhattan. Xanatos had given it to the clan as a token to remind them of their original time. It had a thin gold band with a large Alexandrite stone in a delicate setting. Goliath had presented it to her months ago, asking her to marry him in the human way. Elisa had loved the ring, especially the stone that seemed to change colors depending on the lighting. It wasn’t a traditional ring, but they were far from a traditional couple.

Matt noticed the action, and was certain that she was agitated about the protest and the ideals of the group behind it. He thought to steer the conversation away from it to a less volatile one.

“So,” Matt probed, gently. “Have you and Goliath finally decided on a date?”

“No,” Elisa said, unconsciously frowning a little. She glanced down at the simple ring on her finger. It had been months since Goliath had asked her to marry him in the Human ways, yet there were times that she would forget about the ring and it would startle her anew. She had spun a romantic story about a busy business man that she had fallen in love with, who worked with companies overseas to explain the crazy hours and absenteeism to her coworkers. “We are still working on that.”

Matt groaned inwardly. He’d had the feeling for a few weeks now that something was wrong in paradise, but was unsure how to get Elisa to talk about it. Granted, they would have possibly the first and only interspecies marriage in history, and it had to be wearing on her a bit. Every relationship had their challenges, but this one was a biggie. 

“Yeah, well,” Elisa ran a frustrated hand through her hair. “Stuff keeps happening, and we have to keep pushing the date back.”

Matt nodded, choosing not to comment further. It was none of his business, really, but he considered Goliath a friend. Elisa was borderline family to him. He wanted to help them both, but was unsure how.

He decided to change the subject again, struggling to find a safe subject. He settled on work. 

“Want to carpool back to the station this afternoon?” He asked.

“Sure,” Elisa said, grateful that he let the situation between herself and Goliath alone. 

“Sounds good,” Matt said, trying to hide how awkward he was feeling. “I can come get you around three.”

Elisa agreed and gave him a wave as she walked towards the employee parking area. She climbed inside her cherry red Ford Fairlane, and with a weary sigh, pointed it in the direction of her condo. 

Dawn was only an hour away. If the traffic Gods were with her, she could potentially get to see her fiancée for a few minutes before he went into stone sleep for the day.


	2. Chapter 2

No such luck.

It was typical, beginning of the work day traffic out there. Meaning that the drive that normally took her 20 minutes at the end of her overnight shift had taken her almost an hour.

Elisa closed her door with a frustrated ‘thump’ behind her. The sun had risen before she’d been able to get home, so she had missed her chance to see Goliath. 

She looked out into the large rooftop courtyard, and it was clear. Goliath must have stayed at the castle for the day.

Elisa sighed. Granted, there were things she wasn’t up to discussing, but she did want to at least see him.

Then again, why did it feel like a kind of reprieve? 

Elisa felt guilty the moment that thought entered her mind, no matter how true it was. 

And she did feel guilty. For various reasons. Even though she loved Goliath it didn’t negate the feelings that by marrying her, he would be cheated in so many ways.

Goliath had been really pushing for answers. No matter how Elisa tried to pre-formulate those answers in her head, she knew that they would hurt him. And herself. 

Gargoyles aged slower than humans, so Goliath would outlive her. That was not a supposition, but a known fact. Elisa did not want Goliath to have to take care of her in those last years, only to be faced with a long life afterward without her. She would hate it if it were the other way around, and she was having to face many, many years without him. 

Then there was the fact that she and Goliath would never have children of their own. There were other clans of Gargoyles in the world, but even then, their numbers were few. Goliath would be an amazing father, his relationship with Angela had shown her that, and to be cheating him of the experience was weighing heavily on her.

She loved him, of that there was no doubt… but was that really enough? If they did actually get married, she would be sentencing Goliath to a life of no more children, watching her age and die, and a long life without her after she was gone.

It was no easy thing, knowing that she loved Goliath with her whole heart but knowing that what they both wanted was impossible.

With the growing feeling of aggravation over her own misgivings, Elisa stripped out of her treasured red bomber jacket. Hanging it on her antique coat rack, she began her after work ritual.

She took her service revolver out of her shoulder holster, placing it on a small table so that she could unhook her shoulder rig. Once the holster was off, she hung it on the wooden coat rack, right next to her coat.

Turning her attention to the revolver, she took the clip out and made sure that the chamber was empty. The ammunition went to the small lockbox in her hall closet. The gun was usually placed in a similar lock box kept upstairs in the small bedside table beside her bed.

For today, she placed it back in the holster to await her return to work.

The habit was one that she had adopted after Broadway, one of the younger members of the clan, had accidently shot her with her own gun a few years back. It had opened her eyes to how careless she had become about safety at home, even if she had been living there alone.

Now, she had trouble relaxing unless the gun and ammunition were locked up.

Elisa wandered into the kitchen, intent on making something to eat. After a brief tour through cupboards, the fridge and the pantry, Elisa settled on just making a sandwich.

Carrying her plate with her impromptu meal, Elisa made her way to the living room. Placing the plate on the coffee table, she collapsed on the sofa with a sigh. 

She hadn’t been sleeping well lately, worrying over these things that she could do nothing about. She only had a short time today to sleep as it was, and her stressing over things wouldn’t change anything right now.

Elisa set the alarm on her phone and stretched out on the couch, leaving her meal untouched. 

There was a plaintive meow, and Elisa felt the couch cushion dip a little under the weight of Cagney, her long time feline companion. Absently, Elisa ran her hand over his soft fur and listened to the comforting rumble of his deep purr.

She would only close her eyes for a moment…

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

The piercing sound of her alarm woke Elisa out of sleep. 

She sat up quickly, blinking her eyes in the bright sunlight. She felt as if she had only been asleep a few minutes, when she had actually been asleep for a few hours. 

Glaring at her uneaten sandwich, the bread having gone hard in the dry air from being left uncovered. She picked up the plate, and tossed the sandwich into the trash. 

Stumbling her way upstairs, she took a shower. She brushed her hair, pulling it back into a low, tight bun to keep it under control and out of the way. 

She put on a little makeup to hide the dark circles under her eyes, and started gathering up her gear to go back to work. 

After all that was done, she went back to her bedroom to finish getting dressed. 

Since she would be working as a peace officer, instead of in her usual detective capacity, she would be wearing her official dress uniform. Normally, this uniform was for special occasions, police functions and funerals. It was ironed and starched to high hell, ready and waiting in her closet. 

She eased into one of her most soft, comfortable black tee shirts. If she had to be in that hot and unfamiliar uniform, she wanted to have something to alleviate any discomfort.

She took an extra few minutes to make sure that all of the buttons and pins were in the right places before loading up her utility belt. Cuffs and pepper spray were added to their built in leather holders.

Switching over her newly loaded service revolver from her usual shoulder rig to the holster on the wide black belt, she was ready.

Not comfortable, and certainly not rested, but ready.

She really hoped that their informant was wrong. It was bad enough that she felt like she had to play babysitter for a bunch of protesters, but she didn’t even have a full night’s sleep under her belt to help her state of mind. 

On top of all that, they were protesting  _ against _ the gargoyles.

Yeah. Just how she wanted to spend her day.

Stressed? Why should she be stressed?

With a sigh, Elisa grabbed her uniform cap and walked out her door. Matt would be here soon to give her a ride to the station for a fun-filled day of protesters.


	3. Chapter 3

Elisa had known that it was not going to be a fun day, but she had not guessed the sheer volume and numbers of the people that would be involved. 

The Quarrymen had grown in number, and their ranks filled the streets as they filed in. They had taken over a large portion of an open area in Central Park, and were currently screaming their hate filled rhetoric through megaphones. Everything from “They are evil” to “They steal babies”.

Several others were holding signs and throwing pamphlets around to other pedestrians and drivers passing by.

Elisa rolled her eyes more than once at the absurdity of it all. How anyone could think that the Gargoyles were doing half as much as they were being accused of was beyond her.

It did her heart good, seeing how many people showed up to counter protest, even as it made the officers jobs more difficult. 

Countering the ranting and raving from the Quarrymen, the other side was sharing testimonials from people who had been saved from various dangerous situations by the clan. They were not as loud as the Quarrymen, not as flashy, but they drew their own amount of passers by who were interested in their organization.

P.I.T. is what the “pro-Gargoyle” group was calling themselves. People for Interspecies Tolerance, or something like that. Elisa wanted badly to be closer to them, to find out more about them, but she was stationed on the other side of the Quarrymen crowd.

Elisa tuned the speeches out from the Quarrymen, keeping a watch on the increasingly agitated movements of the crowd. She was especially interested in the group of young men who were positioned nearer to the P.I.T. people as well. They were moving erratically, throwing increasingly angry looks at the more peaceful gathering and talking amongst themselves instead of listening to their own “side”.

Elisa was just picking up her radio to convey her suspicions when the situation went from bad to worse. A glint of the late evening sun caught her attention, and Elisa caught sight of the gun as one of the young men extracted it from their jacket pocket.

“Gun!” Elisa had time to shout before the shots began ringing out. “Get down!”

There was one loud shout of pain, as the bullet struck its target and someone fell to the ground.

NYPD officers were suddenly swarming the crowd, surrounding the men.

The shooter got two more shots off into the opposing crowd’s direction before he was taken to the ground by bystanders and police, alike. His three friends followed suit, being body slammed by a small sea of blue uniforms. 

Shouts and screams filled the air as confusion descended. People were pushing and running in all directions.

Elisa knew that the shooter and his buddies were being taken care of, so she went the other direction, trying to shove her way through the crowd towards the P.I.T. group. She was closing in on where she had seen the injured person fall, when she was shoved roughly from behind. 

One moment she was running, and the next she was rolling on the ground, amidst a flurry of running feet.

She managed to get roughly to her hands and knees just in time to get a foot to the ribs from someone fleeing the scene for safety.

Elisa landed on her side, gasping in pain and fighting the sudden loss of air. She’d had the wind knocked out of her, and her vision swam. She brought both arms up to protect her head as best she could, but there were so many frightened people that she got a couple of more hits to the body and a knock to the temple that left her feeling dizzy. She cried out as she felt first one, then another person fell on her prone body in their haste to get out of the area. 

The hundreds of people who had gathered in the park were scrambling for safety, obscuring Elisa’s view and her ability to get out of danger.

Finally, there was a widening gap in the crowd. As soon as she could, Elisa struggled unsteadily back to her feet as the crowd thinned out enough to allow her to do so. 

The whole thing felt as if an hour had passed while she was on the ground. The reality was, it had probably only been moments. While the officers had taken down the shooter and his buddies, no one had gotten to the victims who had been shot yet.

Stumbling, pain radiating from head to foot, she made her way into the P.I.T. area. Two men had been struck with the bullets, but thankfully neither injury appeared life threatening. 

Having had first responder and emergency aid training, Elisa was able to assess them fairly easily.

“Oh my god, Vincent!” Elisa looked up to see a youngish woman, somewhere in her early 20s with dirty blonde hair, rush over to where the two men who were seated, clutching their wounds.

“Michelle,” One of the men, Vincent apparently, had a bullet wound in the upper left arm, answered. “I’m okay. I’m okay.”

“Oh, God,” the woman said again, kneeling on the ground near the young man.

“Hey,” Elisa called out to the woman. “Do you know any first aid?”

“Some,” She admitted.

“I can help you,” Elisa said, slowly slumping to the ground. “I can walk you through it.”

“Okay,” the woman said, breathlessly. “Tell me what to do.”

Elisa instructed the woman to bandage the people up as best she could. Michelle used Victor’s belt to form a tourniquet to apply pressure to her man’s arm just above the wound. 

The other wounded man had a flesh wound to the thigh, where a bullet had grazed him and was able to be patched up in much the same way with the aid of his scarf. 

Once the shooters here disarmed and cuffed, the remaining crowd dispersed rather quickly. Sirens in the distance let Elisa know that help would be there soon. She urged the two injured men to make their way to the base of a nearby tree for added protection in case of another stampede or another shooter. It would also give her a landmark to give the EMTs so that they could be located quickly.

Weakly, she leaned against the tree, sliding down the rough bark to sit on the ground beside them. 

She leaned her head back against the tree and closed her eyes. The world was still tilting unsteadily, and she was not a hundred percent sure she would be able to stand back up under her own power.

She heard the ambulance pull up to the nearby roadway, and thanked the Gods that they were there so quickly. 

Elisa reached up to her shoulder and turned on the radio unit there. “Medical units, officer in need of assistance. I have two men with GSWs. One to the arm and one to the leg. Both appear non-life threatening, but will need transport.”

“Medical unit responding,” came the short reply. “What is your 10-20?”

Elisa gave their location over the radio. Once she was done, she dropped her hand back to her side. Closing her eyes, feeling an overwhelming sense of exhaustion crash over her.

The sound of feet on pavement reached her ears, slowing to a walk as it drew nearer to where the two injured men and Elisa sat.

“Hey,” a male voice called out. “Ambulance is on it’s way. You guys okay?”

“We’re okay,” The man next to Elisa called back. 

Michelle called out to the approaching officer, “But I think this officer needs help.”

“What?” The footsteps faltered as the officer, being caught by surprise, hesitated.

Elisa waved weakly from where she was partially hidden by the tree trunk.

“Oh, Damn,” the feet picked up speed once more. “Officer, are you alright?”

Eyes still closed, Elisa raised her hand to wave the officer back.

“11-99,” The male voice shouted into his radio. “I have an injured officer in need of medical assistance. Repeat, I have an officer down.”

“10-4,” a voice over the radio replied. “You have two rigs incoming. They were held up by foot traffic, but should be there any moment. We will contact a third and have it on the way in case it is needed.”

Between the sound of the approaching sirens, the loud voices and pounding of even more feet coming to their aid. Elisa’s head was beginning to throb in time with the footfalls.

Suddenly, she found herself surrounded by her fellow officers, all who were asking questions. It was as if they were all shouting to be heard over each other.

Elisa just wanted to tell them all to stop talking. Her eyelids felt as if they weighed a ton, and rather than fight it, she closed them.

“Maza,” came a very insistent female voice. “Elisa? Can you open your eyes and look at me?”

Elisa forced her eyelids open and looked into the face of Officer Ramirez, one of the few other female officers in the 23rd. She had started her career as an EMT, and had eventually decided that she would be of better use with the NYPD. 

Whatever Ramirez saw, she didn’t like. “O.K.,” She said softly. “I am going to help you lay down. Try to move slowly.” 

Elisa felt Ramirez’s hands move around her neck, keeping Elisa’s head and neck in a stable natural position as she was eased down onto her back. 

A quiet, but insistent male voice spoke to Elisa. “Officer? Were you hit?”

Elisa opened her eyes and looked at the Emergency Medical Technician. Her fuzzy brain tried to make sense of where he’d come from. He hadn’t been there a moment ago, but now there were flashing lights and ambulances on the roadway in front of her. 

She must have blacked out. Not a good sign.

“No,” Elisa responded scratchily. She cleared her throat and tried again. “No, but I fell and took a couple of kicks in the process.”

“Well, you have a hell of bruise on your face already,” the EMT admitted. “What else hurts?”

“Head, ribs, back,” Elisa sighed. “Everything from my hair down to my feet.”

“Fair enough,” the EMT said. He and Ramirez worked together, placing Elisa into an orange colored, hard plastic neck brace to hold her head immobile, keeping her from further injury. She was then rolled to one side in order to get a large wooden backboard under her so that she could be carried to the waiting gurney. 

Elisa ground her teeth together in an effort not to cry out from the pain.

As they were wheeling Elisa to the open doors of the ambulance, the younger tech started running through what Elisa vaguely remembered as a head injury checklist.

Had she been stuck on the head?

Was she dizzy?

Did she feel nauseous?

When Elisa answered yes to all three, she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that there was an emergency room visit in her immediate future. Head injuries were serious business, and neither the police nor the EMTs were going to give her a pass on this one.

Not that she was going to complain. Not this time.

She felt like she had taken part in a soccer game. 

As the ball.

No. She was not going to protest this time. 


	4. Chapter 4

It turned out that the third ambulance was, indeed, needed. Elisa rode in one ambulance while the two men were on their way to the same hospital as her in the other two rigs. 

She desperately wanted to know if everyone else was alright, but she was so tired. It was a herculean effort to open her eyes, let alone to talk. She closed her eyes, preferring to let herself drift for a while.

“Ma’am,” the soft voiced tech insisted, “I’m sorry, but I need you to stay awake.”

Elisa frowned. She knew that, but she was just so tired.

“Ma’am,” He said again.

“I know, but it is so bright in here,” Elisa said, prying her eyes open to blink at the man. “And I am pretty sure that my head is going to pop off at any time.”

“Headache?” The tech asked.

“Yeah,” Elisa said.

“I can’t really give you anything until we get you to the hospital,” He said apologetically. “Until they get you in and take some scans of your head, and rule out any internal injuries…”

Elisa closed her eyes again and sighed. “That’s o.k. I know the drill, but I can’t keep my eyes open right now. The minute the lights hit, I feel like I have ice picks being hammered into my skull. If you want me to stay awake, talk to me.”

That seemed to stump the young man. 

“Talk?” He asked.

“Yeah,” Elisa insisted. “I don’t even care about what. What’s your name? Do you have a pet? Tell me about your family. Your favorite vacation spot. Your favorite color. Do you like Pina Coladas and getting lost in the rain? I don’t care, I swear.”

“Okay,” He said, seeming to search for something to say. “My name is William. WilI for short… and, uh… I have two Shih Tzu puppies and a pair of Russian Blue cats.”

“Shih Tzus?” Elisa asked, surprised. “You don’t seem the type.”

“Yeah, well,” He stuttered.

“No judgement,” Elisa assured him. “I have a big ol’ tomcat that I rescued as a kitten from a storm drain almost five years ago. I named him Cagney.”

Elisa could hear the smile in the young emt’s voice. “The other guys make fun of me when they hear what kind of dogs I just got.”

“Nah,” Elisa said breezily. “Shih Tzus are cute. You just seem like more of a retriever kind of guy.”

“Well…”

“Uh, oh,” Elisa chuckled. The sound and vibration hurt, but she simply couldn’t help herself. “Let me guess: You would have  _ rather _ had a retriever but your s.o. decided otherwise.”

“Got it in one,” Will said, surprise reflecting in his voice. “You sure you’re a cop, and not some kind of psychic?”

“No. Not a psychic,” Elisa said softly. Her head was really starting to pound, and the effort to keep talking and joking was not helping. At all. “I’m a detective.”

“Same thing sometimes.”

“Yeah,” Elisa sighed.

“How’s the head?”

“I feel like I have two little gremlins playing the bongos in my brain,” Elisa admitted. 

“Not unusual,” He said, reassuringly. “We’re almost there, and they can give you some of the good painkillers.”

“Yay,” Elisa said, weakly.

The chit chat kept up until Elisa knew Will’s favorite color, vacation spot, the name of his girlfriend, hobbies and his shoe size. 

Finally, Elisa felt the ambulance slow to a stop. The back of the ambulance was opened, and more loud voices joined the cacophony in her head. Her information that had been gathered in the field on the way from the scene was passed from William to the nurses and whoever else was in the area. 

Elisa still didn’t want to open her eyes until it was absolutely necessary. It was coming, she knew, and was just hoping to put off the inevitable.

Stats were called out. Blood pressure and oxygen levels were checked. 

“Alright, officer, my name is Dr. Valerie Litster and I need to take a look at your eyes,” came a no-nonsense female voice.

Elisa sighed, and braced herself. She opened her eyes as far as she dared, cringing when the white coated sadist used a pen light to check her pupils.

“Pupils are reactive, and really light sensitive. Sorry detective,” the doctor said, not sounding sorry at all. “Alright, we are going to take you up to CT, and I will see you again in a few minutes.”

“Can’t wait,” Elisa said weakly.

“I can’t do anything about the lights in the rest of the hospital,” the doctor said on her way out the door, “but I can do something to ease your discomfort for now.”

Even through her closed eyelids, Elisa could sense the lights being turned off. It was a brief reprieve, but it helped Elisa relax a bit. 

All too soon, a pair of young women came to wheel her down the bright hallways for the rest of her tests. Elisa kept her eyes shut as tightly as she could, but the first sharp turn on the way there brought back the dizziness, and Elisa nearly embarrassed herself by vomiting on the interns who were wheeling her down the hallways.

She was wheeled down a winding maze of hallways, and suffered through the noisy scan machine. She was wheeled out again and left alone for a brief time in a quiet private treatment room in the emergency wing, the only sound in the room was the slight beeping of the machines. 

Some benevolent soul had thought ahead, and had turned off the lights in the room for her.

Gods, but she was tired. Sleep had been so elusive lately…

Elisa drifted off to sleep to the rhythmic, steady beeping of her heart monitor.


	5. Chapter 5

“Officer,” the irritating voice was accompanied by a hand tapping her shoulder. “Officer, I need you to wake up.”

Elisa groaned, opening her eyes as far as she dared.

“Sorry officer,” The doctor, again, not seeming the slightest bit sorry, “But I need you to be awake just a little bit longer.”

“I’m awake,” Elisa said. “I will try to stay awake.”

“Thank you,” the doctor said. “We have your scans back, and we can see no damage or bleeding in your brain. You have a lot of bruising on your arms, some bruising along your ribs and spine but no broken bones. There is some bruising on your jaw and a doozy of a goose egg on your temple, but again you are lucky in that nothing is broken.”

“Goose egg?” Elisa chuckled. She hadn’t heard anyone but her grandmother use that expression.

“Yeah, yeah,” the doctor said, sighing. “I know. I’m from Nebraska, and we have a weird vocabulary.”

“Sorry.” Elisa said. “I wasn’t going to give you static, I swear.” From the sound of it, this doctor had been harassed for her colorful expressions. A lot. “What’s the major damage, doc?”

“There is little we can do about the ribs, except have you on bed rest. The bruising will be uncomfortable and colorful for a while, but I am going to prescribe you some painkillers for that. You may experience some whiplash with your neck, but that should be stiff and sore, but again, it will go away on its own. Overall, the main thing I am worried about is that you have a concussion,” Dr. Litster said, briskly. “You are showing some pretty classic signs with the dizziness, nausea, light sensitivity and headache. If it were up to me, I’d keep you here overnight for observation, but I know how stubborn you officers are. So, if you have someone at home to help keep an eye on you, you can go home for the night. You’ll need someone to wake you every few hours, and if you have trouble regaining consciousness, you need to be admitted to a hospital. You will need to follow up with your regular doctor tomorrow, and if the symptoms get any worse, I want your solemn vow that you will go to the nearest ER.”

Elisa would have promised anything to get out. She had spent enough time in hospitals in her life, and wanted nothing more than to avoid any more time spent there.

“What time is it?” Elisa asked.

The doctor checked her watch. “It’s about 7 p.m.”

“Okay,” Elisa sighed. Sunset was still over an hour away. “My partner can come get me and take me home. My fiance can help out from there.”

“All night?” the doctor asked, skeptically.

“He’s… a bit of a night owl,” Elisa said. “We both work the overnight shifts.”

“Alright,” The doctor responded with a resigned sigh. “Give me your partner’s name and number, and I will contact them.”

Elisa recited Matt’s cell phone number from memory. 

She listened to the doctor’s footsteps retreat down the hall, signalling that she was once again alone.

NYPD Captain Chavez was not going to be happy about her needing the extended time off, if that was what going to be ordered by the doctor. It was bad enough that she was going to be sent home on doctor’s orders and not able to help sort out the mess from this disastrous protest.

That was going to be days of paperwork, interviews and investigations.

A knock on the door had Elisa prying her eyes open enough to see. The doctor entered the room once more with Matt Bluestone in tow.

“That was quick,” Elisa said. 

Matt chuckled wryly. “You know what it’s like when an officer is hurt on the job.”

“There is a waiting area full of blue uniforms,” The doctor said briskly. “And those who can’t fit in the waiting area are spilling out into the halls. You can’t take two steps down any of our hallways without tripping over someone tonight. I took a chance and asked if your partner was here, and he was. Now, let’s get you out of here so that we can get our emergency room cleared of all these officers.”

“Sounds good,” Elisa said, only too happy to get home and to some quiet.

The doctor left to start the dismissal paperwork.

Matt pulled up a chair and propped his feet up on the foot of Elisa’s bed. “How’s the head?”

“Ungh,” Elisa groaned. “I’ll be fine. Just a wicked throbbing headache, but the doc says that it’s a concussion. Do you have your phone on you? I need to call the station.”

“Already taken care of.” Matt said, suddenly all business. “The men responsible for the gunfire have been processed and are being held without bail until their hearing. People on both sides of the protest are being questioned about the night’s events. The shooter won’t be getting out anytime soon, as he is a recently paroled felon found in possession of a firearm, and that violated his parole. His buddies are being charged with being accessories.”

“Recently paroled?” Elisa asked, stupefied. “Is he just a glutton for punishment, or what?”

“No,” Matt said, grimly. “But guess who put him behind bars in the first place?”

“Who?”

“The clan caught him breaking into a pharmacy, trying to steal drugs a little over a year ago.”

“Ah,” Elisa said, understanding. “Then he was at an anti-gargoyle rally, because of a grudge.”

“Got it in one,” Matt said. “Luckily, no one was fatally injured. The two gunshot victims have been sewn up and released. You and three others were knocked down and hurt in the mass panic after the shots were fired, but again, no fatalities.”

“Thank the Gods,” Elisa breathed.

The hospital’s billing agent stopped in with the paperwork for Elisa to sign. Aftercare instructions were printed out on paper, with signs, symptoms and included instructions for follow up with her regular physician. 

Once the paperwork had been completed, a soft fabric neck brace replaced the hard plastic one that she had been in and Elisa was free. 

The pain medication had started kicking in by that point, but she was still pretty light sensitive. Dr. Litster handed her a pair of cheap sunglasses that are usually reserved for patients with eye injuries so that she would be more comfortable outside of the darkened room. 

Elisa was loaded into the required wheelchair for the ride to the pick up area. To get there, she was wheeled through the crowd of Police, which was already thinning out, thanks to whatever deities were listening. 

Two officers dashed out the doors ahead of her, and Matt explained that they were going to escort her during the ride home. Since Matt had picked her up at home, he was going to drive her home. 

The trip from Mount Sinai Hospital to her condo was not a short trip, so Elisa was thankful for the escort that was able to thin out the late rush hour traffic.


	6. Chapter 6

Even with the sunglasses, the fading evening sunlight still felt like it was burning Elisa’s skull.

She called up every ounce of strength that she could and was able to make it out of the wheelchair and into Matt’s car under her own power. It wasn’t so much for her, as it was for the rest of the officers watching. 

The last thing she wanted was for them to see her fall on her face. As one of a handful of female officers, and an even smaller number of female detectives, she didn’t want to be seen as a “weakling”. Even injured, she would catch crap from some of the “big, tough guys” that she worked with. 

It was still very much a boys club in that aspect.

Once Matt’s car was out of sight of the hospital, she slumped in her seat with a sigh. Resting her head on the back of the seat, as much as the awkwardly thick foam neck brace would allow, she let her mind drift. Not sleeping, just going carefully and blissfully blank.

It was a long, slow trip across Manhattan, during the evening rush “hour”, and even with the police escort they reached her building just shy of 8:00 p.m. 

Matt had to wake her when they pulled up to the front entrance of her building.

“Need me to come in?” Matt asked, concerned at how groggy she was.

“No, I can…” Elisa trailed off as she stood from the car, and the world tilted a little. She stumbled, but caught herself by placing a hand on the top of the car.

Matt was suddenly at her side. “Come on, tough guy. Let’s get you inside.”

Elisa put up the illusion of a fight, but in reality, she was grateful for the help. “I’m just really tired, Matt. Once I get some sleep, I’ll be fine.”

Matt made a humming agreement sound, and took her arm. He waved the front patrol car off, signaling that it was alright for them to go on. He motioned to the rear car, and when the partner officer was in range, Matt motioned to his car. “Visitor parking is on the third floor, can you take care of it and leave the keys with the security officer at the desk inside? I’ll get them and meet you at the precinct as soon as her fiance gets here.”

“Got it,” the officer said, moving toward the driver’s side. 

Matt threaded his arm around his partner’s waist to steady her, then carefully began to walk her to the front doors. They were opened upon their arrival by the Jade Building’s door attendant.

Tony De Luca, the daytime doorman-slash-security officer flushed at Elisa’s condition. He had an affection for the dark haired detective. She was one of the few people in the building who knew his name, let alone that he had a family. 

Heck, she’d even brought him and his wife Sheila a present last August when their new daughter had been born.

She was just one of those people who had the presence and confidence that surrounded them. She always had a smile for him, no matter what kind of hurry that she was in.

She looked… bad.

He held the door open for Matt, the man he knew as her partner. 

“Hey Tony,” Matt said, a little out of breath from hauling his borderline unconscious partner up the entry stairs. 

“Matt,” Tony said in greeting. “Do you need any help?”

“Actually,” Matt said after a momentary hesitation, “An officer is going to pull my car into the garage.” Matt nodded toward the neighboring parking structure. “I wasn’t expecting to have to carry Elisa, but I have a feeling that’s the only way we’re going to get her inside. They’ll bring you the keys, is that okay?”

“Sure thing,” Tony said. “Go ahead and take her up, and I’ll keep the keys at the desk for you. Let me know if you need anything.”

“Thanks Tony,” Matt said. Turning his attention back to his partner, he hefted her up a little higher to tighten up his hold on her. “Come on, Elisa. Let’s get you upstairs.”

“Thanks, Matt,” She said, sleepily. 

“I didn’t think those pain meds were supposed to knock you out,” Matt said, concerned. “Aren’t we supposed to wake you up every few hours?”

“Don’t remind me,” Elisa grumbled, waking up enough to get better footing under her and help. 

“Seriously, the doctor wanted to keep you there and I’m about to haul your butt back to the hospital.” Matt punched the call button for the elevator.

“I’m just really tired, Matt.” Elisa tried to reassure him. “Haven’t been sleeping well. The drugs aren’t helping.”

He got her to the elevator, and practically had to prop her up next to the elevator so that he could dig out her key card from the personal belongings that the hospital had bagged up for her in the ER. He was trying to juggle his partner, the elevator buttons and the key card when Tony hurried over. 

Without batting an eye, he slipped the keycard out of Matt’s hands. Tony pressed the call button that started the car on its downward journey to collect its passengers. 

Moments later, the doors opened and Matt walked Elisa inside. Tony reached inside and swiped the security card again over the sensor panel that would allow access to Elisa's penthouse apartment.

Tony held the card out for Matt. “Let me know if you need anything,” he said again to the red headed detective. “I’m here until 11:00, and Paulie is on after that, but I will let him know that you may be calling and why.”

“Thanks,” Matt said.

“Thanks Tony,” Elisa mumbled sleepily.

“Just get well, Elisa,” Tony said, frowning in concern as the doors slid silently shut.

One elevator ride later, and they were in Elisa’s two story, penthouse condo on top of the Jade building. It was spacious with a large courtyard for the Clan to come and go as they pleased without being spotted by anyone. 

Matt was half surprised to see that none of the clan was there. Contacting them would be tricky, since he wouldn’t be able to use the communicators like he normally did.

“OK, here we go,” Matt said. He lowered Elisa slowly to a sitting position onto her couch. 

Elisa settled in with a sigh. “Thanks, Matt. You can go. Goliath will be here in a little bit.”

“Alright,” Matt said. “Mind if I…” He motioned to the bathroom.

“Go for it,” Elisa waved her hand.

Matt excused himself, and ducked into the bathroom. He turned on the faucet to mask the sound of the call he was about to make. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Elisa… but he knew how stubborn she was. She would rather tough something out on her own than ask for help, but that wasn’t an option this time.

He knew was needed back at the station to help with the mess that was probably happening there. That being said, he was not comfortable leaving without making sure that someone was actually going to be here with her to help.

He called the castle and managed to talk his way through the many levels of secretaries, ending up having to leave a voicemail message for David Xanatos. “Mr. Xanatos, this is Matt. I wanted to let you know that Elisa Maza is home sick, and will need some extra help this evening,” Matt deliberately kept the message vague. He was pretty sure that someone like Xanatos would have some awesome security in his building, but just to be certain that no one could get the message and pass it on to one of the Clan’s growing crowd of gargoyle haters… “Please send over Big G when he makes an appearance tonight. Thanks.”

Matt ended the call, and slid his phone back into his pocket. He really hoped that Xanatos understood what he was saying. He was needed back at the station, first to help finish up whatever mess was still left from this afternoon’s mess and then to work his regular shift afterwards. 

Before that, however, he needed to make sure that Elisa was taken care of.

If he stayed out of work until after sunset and Goliath was able to make it over, he would have to have a “talk” with Captain Chavez. If he left Elisa alone, with no one there to help her, he would have a “talk” with Elisa’s Godmother, who was… Captain Chavez.

Inspiration struck, and he quickly dialed another number under his “Elisa Emergency Contacts” portion of his phone number library.

He scrolled until he found the number he was looking for. 

His favorite of the Maza Clan… Excluding Elisa, of course.

He called Beth.


	7. Chapter 7

Beth was Elisa’s youngest sibling. She had been in college in Arizona until she had graduated just a few months ago. Elisa had been ecstatic the day that Beth had gotten a job at the  National Museum of the American Indian, right there in New York City. 

Elisa had arranged for Matt to meet her a few weeks ago by inviting him and his girlfriend, Pamela, over for dinner. Not only did he find Beth to be entertaining, she had become an instant friend to Pamela. 

At Beth’s insistence, he had added her number as an emergency contact for Elisa, since she now lived closer than their parents.

“Hello,” Came the cheerful greeting.

“Hello. Is this Beth Maza?” He asked, wanting to double check.

“Yes,” she answered cautiously. “Who may I ask is calling?”

“Miss Maza, this is Matthew Bluestone. I don’t know if you remember me, but I am your sister, Elisa’s, partner in the…”

“What happened?” Beth interrupted.

“Your sister is fine,” He hurried to reassure her. “But there was an incident. She is at home now…”

“Alone?”

“Er… no. I am here for the moment. That’s why I was…” He stuttered.

“I’ll be right there,” Beth answered, hanging up on him.

He sighed. She was a lot more like Elisa than she would want to know or admit to. Actually, all of the Mazas were the same when it came to family. Hurt one, and the rest would come running to help, fight for or defend each other.

Matt sighed, turning off the water.

He walked back to the living room to find Elisa curled up on the sofa with the soft, crocheted afghan that she kept folded up on the back. He shouldn’t have worried about bothering her with the phone calls. She was out cold. 

He sat with her for almost 45 minutes before there was a knock at the door. He hurried to it before the knocking could wake Elisa.

“Hey, Beth,” Matt greeted softly. “Thanks for getting here so quickly.”

“Elisa’s my sister,” Beth said with a shrug. “I’ve been away for a while, and so my family tended to not tell me things because I was too far away. It’s nice to be back and in the loop again.”

“She’s in here,” Matt said, motioning Beth towards the large living room.

“Whoa, what happened?” Beth asked, taking in the sight of her injured sister. “And does dad know yet?”

Matt rubbed a hand across the back of his neck uneasily. “I honestly don’t know if your father knows yet or not. There was an officer down call, so if he was listening to the scanner, he might have heard. We were at a protest this afternoon…”

Matt watched the realization light Beth’s face. “The one with the gunfire? Is that what happened?”

“She wasn’t shot,” he hurried to reassure her. “But she fell and was knocked around a bit in the crowd after the shots were fired.”

“She was one of the people who were trampled?” Beth asked incredulously. 

“She will be fine,” He said again. “She took a couple of hits to the ribs, and one good knock to the head. The doc at the hospital said that she has a concussion, and just to keep an eye on her for the night. She’s been asleep for about an hour, and someone’s supposed to wake her every couple of hours.”

Beth nodded. “I had a concussion once before, and it really stinks. You may want to have Maria write her off of the schedule for a couple of days.”

“She needs to make a doctor’s appointment tomorrow for a follow up, and she will probably need a release to come back to work anyway.”

“Don’t talk about me like I’m not here.” called a sleepy, yet grumpy voice from the direction of the couch. 

Beth hurried over to her sister. “Hey girlie. Heard you had a rough day.”

“Something like that,” Elisa said, struggling to sit up. “I’m not sick, just tired.”

“Do you want to try to make it to your bedroom?” Beth asked.

“Yeah,” Elisa said, before laying back down. “No. This blanket has accepted me as one of it’s own. I can’t abandon it now or I will lose it’s trust.”

Beth burst out laughing. “Good drugs?”

“Mmmhmmmm,” Elisa agreed sleepily.

“Can I get you anything to drink?” Beth asked.

Elisa was asleep once more, and didn’t get the chance to respond.

“I am so sorry to have to leave you both like this,” Matt said, sheepishly.

“Go,” Beth shooed him to the door. “I am here to help now. You go and take care of the insanity that I am sure took over the station after that mess.”

Matt nodded. “You have my number, so call if you need anything. I will be meeting up with Pamela after work, so if you can’t get a hold of me, call her.”

“Will do,” Beth waved him off. “Go. Can you have Maria call dad, though? I have a feeling he hasn’t heard yet, or he’d be here, so it will go better for everyone if she calls and updates him.”

Matt nodded, and walked to the front door. It helped knowing that Elisa was taken care of. Now he could focus on whatever else the night decided to throw at him.


	8. Chapter 8

Beth tossed her coat down on one of the two empty armchairs, followed by her purse. 

“Well, sis,” Beth mused out loud. “You keep life interesting.” Satisfied that Elisa was resting again, and knowing it would be a while yet before she would have to wake her again, Beth went to scrounge up something to eat in the kitchen. 

Elisa always had a well stocked kitchen. For the past few years, anyway, and it wasn’t until she had met the Gargoyles that she fully understood why. She’d been keeping a kitchen full of goodies in case her friends dropped in. 

Still did, in fact, as Beth found when she started looking through her cabinets. Beth settled on slices of summer sausage, slices of sharp cheddar and Ritz crackers. She would have made something a little more “meal” and less “snack”, but she didn’t want to risk making noise and waking Elisa before she had to. 

She took her plate and set it on the small end table by the remaining empty chair, selected a detective novel from Elisa’s bookshelves. Turning on a single small lamp so that she would be able to read as the sun began to set, Beth settled herself down for what was probably going to be a long night. 

Beth was caught up in the murder, mystery and mayhem of the well written novel, when the sound of the sliding glass roof doors caught her attention. Beth tucked the book’s cover flap in between pages to mark her spot, and hurried to her feet to greet whichever member of the clan who had dropped by.

Of course, it could also be their brother, Beth mused. The only visitors who could make it up to the penthouse level to use those doors were those with wings.

The large, muscled form of the leader of the Gargoyle clan came slowly into view. Compared to him, the two other figures that followed behind him were hardly seen in the shadowy interior of the living room. 

“Hey, Goliath,” Beth called out to him softly. 

“Beth,” He greeted distractedly, his brow furrowed in concern. His attention was dedicated to Elisa’s sleeping form. 

“She will be fine,” Beth hurried to assure him. “She just needs some rest.”

“What happened?” Goliath’s daughter, Angela asked.

“Small issue at a protest rally,” Beth downplayed it, not wanting to make them any more worried than they already were. “She hurt her head. The best thing for her right now is to take it easy. She can sleep, but someone needs to wake her every couple of hours for a while.”

Goliath frowned. “Is it not best to let her sleep?”

Beth shook her head. “She has a concussion. The doctors want us to wake her every few hours to make sure that she is able to be woken up. If she doesn’t wake, it could be a sign that something else may be wrong.”

Again, Goliath’s gaze moved back to Elisa.

“Is there anything we can do?” Brooklyn, the red skinned gargoyle, asked.

“No, not really,” Beth said. She thought for a moment, then made a suggestion, “I’m here for Elisa right now. Matt and the rest of the NYPD in the area have their hands full, dealing with the fallout from this afternoon’s mess. You guys should go take care of your patrols, and you can drop by later.”

“Beth is right, Goliath,” Angela agreed, quietly. “We may be needed out in the city tonight.”

“Elisa’s not alone,” Brooklyn said. “And she won’t be.”

“Yes,” Goliath's voice rumbled quietly through the room. “She would want us out helping the police tonight, but..”

“I’m not going anywhere, Goliath,” Beth hurries to assure him. “I will stay, keep an eye on things. When you are done, come back here and you can sit up with her for a while.”

He nodded, solemnly. “We will be back.”

Beth followed them out to the courtyard, watching as the three gargoyles extended their wings with an audible whoosh, and soared off into the night sky.

“Wow,” Beth said. Since moving back to Manhattan, she had spent a lot of time with her sister and the clan… But here were just some things that still amazed her about them. Their awe inspiring strength and the dazzling ability of flight were two of those things. 

Beth walked back inside, sliding the door closed as silently as she was able.

Beth looked at her sister and thought of all those times growing up that she had been sick and Elisa had sat by her bedside like a little mother hen keeping watch over a chick. Oh, their mother had taken care of the major things, but if either Beth or Derek were ever ill, there would be Elisa, holding hands and wiping brows. 

Elisa and their father both had this freakishly strong immune system. They were rarely ever sick, so Beth and Derek took for granted how hard it was to take care of someone in those circumstances.

Beth was finally given the opportunity to pay some of that mothering instinct of hers back. She checked the time and sank back down in the large armchair. 

Elisa had only been asleep about an hour. Beth would give her a little longer before disrupting her rest again.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Beth woke Elisa twice more before Goliath made it back to the apartment. 

This time he had come alone.

“You must rest as well,” Goliath chided Beth. “There is an extra bedroom upstairs for you to rest in. Do so, and I will stay with Elisa until sunrise.”

Beth nodded. She was starting to feel the effects of being up all night after a full day of work. She needed a power nap, badly. She didn’t have to be at the museum until ten o’clock in the morning, so she would have time to contact their parents to take a shift with Elisa until she got the doctor’s clearance to return to work.

Grateful for the reprieve, Beth stumbled up the stairs and was practically asleep before she fell onto the bed.

Goliath kneeled down by the side of the couch where his fiancee was sleeping. He hated knowing that he was going to have to wake her soon, but he understood the necessity of it now. 

He had stopped to talk to the resident doctor and friend of the clan, Dr. at the Aerie

Gently, he used a taloned finger to move her hair away from her face. In doing so, he uncovered a discolored area of bruising. The bright red and purple color ran from just above her ear and down to the side of her jaw.

Involuntarily, an angry growl emanated from his throat. He hated it when she worked day shifts and he was unable to help her. She would not have been injured had the event happened at night when he could have been there to help her.

“Hey big guy,” Elisa said softly, eyes still closed. She placed her hand over his where it still rested against her cheek. “When did you get back?”

“Just a few minutes ago,” he assured her. 

“Are you hungry?” Elisa asked groggily, awkwardly making a move as if to sit up.

Goliath was having none of it. He placed his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed, laying her back against the decorative pillows that she had been sleeping on. “You do not need to get up and cook for me. I am not hungry, nor do I want you to do anything but rest tonight.”

“How was your night?” Elisa asked, settling back against the pillows with a tired sigh. 

“It went well,” He assured her. “No sign of the Quarrymen.”

“Really?” Elisa asked, surprised. “From the sound of it, they were planning on an all day, all night kind of thing.”

Goliath shook his head. “There was nothing left behind in the park, and no signs of any activity elsewhere in the city.”

“Well, thank the Gods for small favors.”

“Yes,” Goliath ran a hand over her temple, where the skin ranged in color from a deep purple to a light green. “Both small and large ones. I am glad that you are going to be alright, but sorry that you were hurt.”

“I am fine, big guy,” Elisa hurried to reassure him. “In fact, I’m actually feeling better now that I’ve had some sleep.”

“There is still a few hours before morning,” Goliath pointed out. “If you can sleep, perhaps you should.”

“I will try,” Elisa said with a smile. “In the meantime, will you just… sit with me? Gods, that sounded corny.”

“I will stay as long as I am able to,” Goliath said, returning the smile. 

They sat together, talking quietly to each other about anything and everything that came to mind. Finally, Goliath asked her to turn on the television to find them something to watch.

She settled on a cheesy romantic comedy, only to fall back to sleep a few minutes into it.

Goliath chuckled. Elisa was not one to sit idle, so she rarely watched movies at home because they tended to put her to sleep. Knowing this, Goliath had shamelessly used that against her to get her to go back to sleep so that her body could heal itself.

When it could no longer be avoided, Goliath laid a kiss against her forehead and made his way upstairs to wake Beth so that she could keep watch over Elisa.

Once Beth was awake, Goliath walked out into the courtyard where he would spend the day in stone sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

“So, what’s the word, doc?” Elisa asked Dr. James.

Dr. Bradley James was a young man who was barely two years older than his current patient. He had been hired a few years ago to be the personal physician of the Xanatos family, setting him up to have the entirety of the 20th floor of the Aerie building for treatment rooms, offices and a fully stocked medical practice. He also had a good sized corner of that floor for his personal residence so that he was always available to be on call. 

Officially, on paper, he was a doctor on staff for the employees of Xanatos Enterprises. 

Unofficially, he was there in case of emergency for Elisa and the gargoyles.

Over the last few years, Elisa alone had kept him busy enough. 

He didn’t mind, however. It was nice to feel needed.

“Well,” the doctor said, finishing up writing a note in her chart, “I would like you to take a few more days off to rest before going back to work…”

“How long?” Elisa scowled at him.

“I would like you to take at least three days. I would prefer you to take a full week off to give your body time to fully heal, but I know you too well by now, and you would never follow those orders. I am writing you the shortest time off orders that I can, and that says that you need at  _ least _ three days. Minimum.” Dr. James stressed. “And that is  _ exactly _ what I am putting in the paperwork that I will fax to the station for Captain Chavez.”

Elisa rolled her eyes. “I feel fine now that I have had sleep.”

“I am glad to hear that,” Dr. James said, closing her file with a snap. “But it doesn’t change my mind. Three days.”

Elisa sighed. “If that’s what it will take.”

Dr. James smiled. “That’s what it will take.”

“I can’t beg you otherwise?”

“Nope,” Dr. James said. “And you use that neck brace if your neck starts feeling sore. There’s no need to play ‘tough guy’ and possibly make it worse.”

Elisa sighed. “Okay. I will just head home. Alone. So I can hang out all day. Lonely…useless...”

“Stop,” Dr. James said, wiping a fake tear from his eye. “You’re breaking my heart.”

Elisa glared at him, disgruntled. “You don’t have one, or you wouldn’t be sentencing me to staying home.”

“One more word, young lady,” He waggled his finger at her as if he were scolding a disobedient child, “And I will make it a full week. Of complete bed rest.”

Elisa gaped at him. “You wouldn’t do that to me.”

“I might,” He replied with a careless shrug, as if he were daring her to try her luck.

Elisa threw up her hands in defeat. “Fine, but I really hope you have a therapist license for when I go crazy from too much time off of work.”

“I will start studying, just for you.”

Elisa shuddered. “Why do I have the feeling that you are only partially joking?”

Dr. James laughed, and walked her to the elevator. 


	10. Chapter 10

Elisa was sitting in her living room that afternoon, visiting with her parents. 

Earlier that morning, Beth had gotten up, helped herself to a business-type suit from Elisa’s closet, took a shower and hustled Elisa out the door, all before nine in the morning. She had left for work straight from when she had dropped Elisa off at the Aerie Building for her appointment with Dr. James. 

Before leaving Elisa at the Doctor’s offices, she had reminded Elisa that their parents were going to come and pick her up shortly and take her home.

True to their word, Peter and Diane Maza had been there to pick up their eldest daughter. Despite most of the danger of concussion having mostly passed within the first 24 hours, the Mazas were not going to leave her alone until they were a hundred percent positive that she was going to be fine.

No matter how much she protested.

Peter had just brought out a pair of blue mugs of coffee when Elisa’s phone rang.

Elisa practically dove for it. Any kind of distraction from her enforced house confinement would be welcome.

“Hello?” She answered on the third ring.

“Maza,” came the authoritative voice from the other end of the line. “Sorry to bother you, but I really didn’t want to wait.”

“Morgan?” Elisa asked, puzzled.

“Yeah, sorry,” Officer Morgan apologized brusquely. The fact that he had called her by only her last name with no greeting was the tell-tale sign that something was wrong. 

“Hold on just a moment,” Elisa said. She got to her feet, and took the phone with her out onto the balcony. Thankfully, her parents stayed in the living room, giving her privacy.

“O.K. Morgan,” Elisa said, as direct as he had been. “Whats going on?”

“The station just got a phone call from Attica.”

“Are you serious?” Elisa asked, stunned. There was only one person in New York State’s Attica Prison that anyone would call her at home about. “Please tell me that you’re not about to tell me….” Elisa trailed off, hoping that she was wrong in her assumptions.

“Jon Canmore escaped two days ago.” He said.

“Wait,” Elisa, caught by surprise, sat down roughly on one of the stone benches. “Two days ago? And we’re just  **_now_ ** hearing about this?”

“I know,” Morgan said, gruffly. “I am not pleased about this, and you can bet that Captain Chavez is going to be pissed.”

“Yeah,” Elisa agreed. She suddenly felt her chest tightening. It had been roughly two years since Jon Canmore had been arrested and sent to the maximum security prison. Elisa and the Gargoyles had been the ones to put him there, and he had still been cursing Elisa’s name as they drug him out of the courtroom after his sentencing. 

“They said that they sent a notification in a fax yesterday. Why they didn’t call, who knows. I do know that they haven’t widely made the news known outside of their ranks for the moment. Chances are that the fax got lost in the confusion last night. As to why the news stations haven’t gotten a hold of it yet, they probably don’t want it known that someone escaped and tarnished their sterling reputation,” Morgan said, the sarcasm fairly dripping off of each word.

“Has anyone contacted the other two Canmore siblings?” Elisa asked. “He might have been in contact with them.”

“Robyn Canmore is still in jail,” Morgan assured the detective. “All communication going in or out is monitored, and no contact has been made that we are aware of.”

“And Jason?”

“Jason is still reporting to his probation officer,” Morgan stated. “We have both his home address and his work addresses. He is working at Mt. Sinai Hospital, helping with rehabilitation patients. We have officers en route to both locations to talk to him.”

“Have they searched Jon’s cell yet?” Elisa asked. “Surely there was something in there to give them a hint about where he was headed?”

“That’s what I asked,” Morgan admitted. “Evidently his room was spotless. He had been spending most of his time in solitary, anyway.”

“Wait… wait… Let me get this straight, because I don’t think I heard you correctly. He not only escaped from a maximum security prison, but from freaking  _ solitary confinement _ too?” Elisa ran her hand through her hair in frustration. She suddenly had the urge to throw something. Or hit something. Or kick something. Really hard.

Turning, she saw her parents standing in the courtyard near her. Her voice must have risen and carried to them inside. 

_ Damn it. _

Angrily, she shoved the phone to her father. “Here dad, maybe you can make sense of this. I just can’t...” She trailed off angrily.

Peter frowned, puzzled, and took the phone from his daughter and proceeded to get to the bottom of things. 

While Peter and Morgan were talking on the phone, Elisa leaned into her mother. Her sudden burst of angry energy leaving her as abruptly as it had come.

There were certain things that she had never shared with her parents, for all of their sakes. 

Some of what she had never shared had involved the Gargoyles, but they had met all members of the clan now, so that was of little worry.

She had never told them about falling off of the dam. Or the time she had nearly drowned when the Labyrinth roof had collapsed, flooding it.

Most of the never-spoken-of events involved Jon Canmore. Those had been left out of any kind of communication with her parents.

For all of their sakes. 

For one, she didn’t want them to worry about her any more than they already did. Over the years, Elisa had vanished a handful of times, causing them a lot of stress and worry. She was really trying not to do that to her family any more than absolutely necessary. 

Secondly, her father still had friends on the force. If he thought Elisa was in danger, he would contact each and every one of them and Elisa would never have another moment of peace until Jon Canmore was either back behind bars or dead. He had done it before for lesser reasons.

Lastly, Elisa just mentally couldn’t rehash everything that had happened. Even now, two years later, Elisa was still having minor panic attacks when she thought about how he had drugged and abducted her from a crime scene that had been swarming with other cops. He had held her captive, then used her as bait to get to the gargoyles.

Elisa had managed to get loose and distract him long enough for the Gargoyles to subdue him.

Oh, yeah, and all of this had taken place several stories above the ground. Both she and the clan had managed to get Canmore in the end, but the final fight had taken place atop one of Manhattan’s tallest construction cranes at a development site for office buildings.

Elisa took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He was not going to get her again. She would be prepared.

Her father disconnected the call and turned to Elisa. “Morgan will keep in contact with you to keep you as up to date as he can about what is going on. The story is about to hit the news, which is why the 23rd is just getting word from the reporters. Morgan verified with the Attica people before calling here. The fax that was supposedly sent has yet to actually be found.”

“Yeah, great,” Elisa said, feeling oddly numb. 

“I know, sweetie,” Peter said, slinging an arm over her shoulders. “But at least you are medically housebound right now, right?”

“Yeah, great,” Elisa said again.

Peter and Diane exchanged a glance. “Elisa,” Diane started, “Why are you so worried? Surely this is not the first criminal that you have put behind bars who said they would ‘get you’?”

“No,” Elisa confirmed. “But it is the first one who was flat out bat crap crazy.”

“Elisa,” Diane scolded.

“Sorry mom,” Elisa apologized. 

Diane Maza heaved a heavy sigh.

“You are to stay here at home,” Peter said, handing down orders as if she was still a rambunctious kid who had been grounded for some infraction. “And you will have someone with you at all times.”

“I thought that was the plan anyway, dad,” Elisa shot back. “Beth will be here in a little bit, and you guys can go home. After that, Goliath will be taking a turn, and then it’s back to you guys.”

Elisa turned and flung open the sliding patio door that led the way back inside her condo.

“Now, Elisa,” Diane said, sternly. “We are just trying to make sure that you are safe.”

“I know mom,” Elisa admitted. “I’m sorry for snapping, but knowing that you guys are concerned isn’t helping the situation. This guy is straight up crazy as a shit-house rat, and the fact that it’s been almost forty eight hours before notifying us…” Elisa absently rubbed a hand over her suddenly unsettled stomach.

Diane cringed a little at the language that her daughter was using, but she understood it. After all, she’d married a policeman and they had been through it all at least once.

“This would be so much easier if we could put you into witness protection…” Peter grumbled.

“Not an option, dad,” Elisa stopped him. “I am not just going to ‘disappear’ on the clan, and leave them alone to clean up the mess.”

“Well,” Diane huffed. She had seen father and daughter snap at each other like this before, and was resigned to the fact that their easygoing visit was over. Now it was about keeping Elisa safe. “How about we go drink that coffee and we can come up with a plan.”

Together, the three Mazas headed back inside the condo, shutting the door and leaving the curtains open. 

  
  


**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

By the time that the sun had gone down, and Goliath had awoken, the Maza family had put a plan of action into effect. Elisa was not going to be left alone until Jon Canmore was once more in custody. 

Effective immediately.

And she was to take the full week off recommended by Dr. James to give the various law enforcement agencies a chance to find Canmore on their own.

The one time Elisa dared protest, Peter had laid down the law. It was this, or witness protection. End of story.

To ensure that Elisa followed her half of the agreement, Peter called Captain Maria Chavez.

When the time came when Elisa was finally able to go back to work, she was to have Matt, Morgan, or some other member of the force at her side. Period. Both Peter and Captain Chavez were firm on that, and knowing Elisa, the captain threatened to not allow her back to work at all until Jon was back in custody.

Elisa agreed to the conditions. She didn’t like it, but liked the thought of staying home even less. She loved her job, and she wasn’t going to let one lone psycho keep her away from it.

Despite Elisa’s protests, her parents had put their foot down about her being left alone even at home. Diane had immediately called Beth, and asked if she could move into the spare bedroom at Elisa’s temporarily. Beth had agreed, and Peter had gone to meet her after work to help pack a bag or two of clothes and essentials for an unknown length of time. 

If Beth was not able to be there with her, Peter, Diane, Derek or a member of the clan would need to be with her.

As soon as Goliath heard this news, Elisa knew that she would be lucky to be able to go to the bathroom alone.

Diane stayed with Elisa, doing what her mother did best in upsetting situations. Her mother was a stress cleaner of the extreme variety, and it was a trait that had passed on to her eldest daughter. 

When Peter had left to help Beth, Elisa and Diane had tackled the kitchen with a vengeance. They were just finishing up when Beth and Peter arrived.

Diane helped Beth haul her bags up the stairs and put her things away. 

“Alright,” Peter said, sending Elisa a “don’t mess with me” look that Elisa remembered vividly from her childhood. “So, here’s the plan. If Beth is not here during the day, you call me or your mom. You have enough help at night between Derek and Goliath, but if something happens, you call me. Any time, day or night.”

“Yes, sir.” Elisa answered, giving him a crisp salute.

“Elisa,” Peter said sternly. “I am not kidding around here. This Canmore is dangerous, and I need to be able to sleep at night knowing that you have someone here in case he makes an appearance.”

“I know, dad,” Elisa said, smiling. “I love you too. You guys keep an eye out too. There was that department leak not that long ago, and that had been indirectly linked to this guy. He may still have your address.”

“Don’t worry about us,” Peter said briskly. “I invested in a security system not long after that fiasco, and I still have my handgun in my bedside table in case of trouble.”

Elisa sighed. “I am so sorry that all of this craziness is spilling over onto you guys.”

Peter patted his eldest daughter’s shoulder. “It’s part of the job, honey. You arrest enough bad guys, you eventually have one attach to you. I had my share of them back in the day.”

“Really?” Elisa asked, raising her eyebrows in surprise. “I don’t remember anything like that happening.”

“You were really young,” Peter admitted. “You were only about five or so, but someone I had put behind bars made my life interesting for a while. He sent some crazy letters to the house, and even had his cousin throw a brick through our window one night while we were all sitting there watching television.”

Elisa frowned. “I don’t remember that at all.”

“That’s good,” Peter said. “I would have hated to be the cause of something traumatic in your childhood. You talked about it for a while,even had some nightmares, but then suddenly you didn’t anymore. I was hoping that you had forgotten it.”

“Wish granted,” Elisa reassured him. “No bad memories requiring therapy here.”

“There,” Diane called out, leading the way down the stairs with Beth following behind. “All done.”

Elisa sighed. “Thanks for doing this, Beth.”

“Oh, yeah,” Beth said, sarcastically. “Like spending some time in a penthouse apartment with an amazing view is a slow torture. Stop twisting my arm!”

Elisa laughed. “Oh, come on. Your apartment isn’t that bad.”

Beth leaned against a wall and crossed her arms. “My bedroom window looks straight out to a brick wall, and the roaches from the mexican restaurant next door are big enough to require leashes.”

Elisa laughed. “Well, glad I could help. I offered to let you move in here when you were first talking of moving back to New York, if you remember.”

“I know,” Beth sighed. “Trust me, it was tempting, but we both like having our own space.”

“True,” Elisa acknowledged. “But the offer still stands.”

“My lease is up in five months. We will see how this goes for now, and we can revisit that one.”

“Deal,” Elisa said.

“Well,” Diane said, “Now that is settled, your dad and I should get going before it gets too late.”

“O.K.” Elisa said. She gave her parents a hug, and thanked them again.

The door closed behind them, leaving the two sisters alone.

A moment passed in silence before Beth spoke up. “So… what’s for dinner?”

Elisa looked at her sister and grinned. “Loser cooks?”

“Best two out of three?” Beth asked.

“Deal.”

Together, the sisters brought their fists up.

“Rock, paper, scissors…”


	11. Chapter 11

“Dinner’s ready,” Beth called out from the kitchen.

“Thanks, sis,” Elisa said, entering the kitchen to grab a plate of the spaghetti that Beth had cooked up.

“I can’t believe you beat me at that again,” Beth grumbled. “You are some kind of Rock Paper Scissors savant.”

“Nah,” Elisa said, grabbing a soft drink from the fridge. “I just know you too well.”

Beth rolled her eyes. “Fine, don’t tell me how you did it.” 

Elisa laughed. “I’m a detective, Beth! I also have a psychology degree, remember? It is the same as if we were sitting at a table to play poker, and you were trying to bluff me. I learned your ‘tells’ a long time ago. You tend to project what you are going to do before you do it.”

Beth burst out with a laugh, then stopped. She stared at her sister incredulously. “Oh, my God. You aren’t kidding!”

“Nope. Sorry.” Elisa’s eyes had a devilish glint to them, which told Beth that there was more to this conspiracy. “Come on, it’s time for news, and I want to see what they do about Jon escaping.”

“Teach me, oh wise one,” Beth begged.

“But then you take away my fun.”

“Fine,” Beth huffed. “Wait until I tell Derek… Wait!” Beth stopped short, a look of dawning horror on her face, “Can Derek do it, too?”

“I have the right to remain silent,” Elisa scooped up her plate and her canned soda, reciting the Miranda Rights as she left the kitchen. “Anything I say may be used against me…”

Beth could only stare after her sister. “Damn it,” she muttered. Her siblings were sneaky… and they must pay for all the times that she had been challenged to a Rock Paper Scissors match to determine something, and they had used their police skills to weasel out of it.

Beth rubbed her hands together in anticipation. They may be good at reading her “tells”, but no one plots revenge like a younger sibling. Beth gathered her own plate, and joined her sister in the living room.

The rest of the day passed slowly.

Sundown found the Maza girls sitting on the sofa, enjoying an episode of an old mystery thriller on the classical movie channel. They were so engrossed in it, that they had forgotten about Goliath out in the courtyard of the condo.

His wakening roar had blended into the movie’s sound effects so well, that it had gone completely unnoticed by the women. 

His entrance, however, caused Elisa to jump in her seat and Beth to scream. Beth flung her arms around her sister, partially in fear and partially to shield herself from the unknown intruder.

He stopped mid-entrance, and crouched as if expecting danger. Scanning the darkened room, he saw the two women sitting together on Elisa’s couch, the only illumination in the room was the flickering light of the television.

“Elisa?” he called out to alert her that it was him. He was uncomfortable walking into the apartment like this and finding them in such obvious distress.

“Goliath,” Elisa sighed, then laughed in relief. “Sorry Big Guy. Come on in.” Elisa slowly disentangled herself from Beth’s grasp and got to her feet. “We were just watching a movie.”

Goliath gave Elisa an unreadable look. He was familiar enough with her that he knew she rarely reacted in fright. She tended to take most things in stride. For her to react in anything resembling fright at all was almost unheard of.

“How are you feeling?” Goliath asked, keeping his voice low and soothing in deference to Beth, who still looked surprised. Gently, he brushed Elisa’s hair away from the side of her face that was still sporting bruises. If it was possible, they were darker now than they had seemed the night previously.

“I’m fine, Goliath,” Elisa hurried to assure him. She clasped his hand in hers, moving it away from her bruised face. “We were just a little caught up in this movie.”

Goliath nodded. He was not completely convinced, but he had another conversation topic he needed to speak with her about, so he let the topic drop.

“Elisa,” He brought his voice down low, “I need to speak with you about something.”

Elisa frowned. “Alright, let’s go outside.”

Together, the couple retreated to the privacy of the large rooftop courtyard.


	12. Chapter 12

Her condo, while large and two stories tall, only took up about a third of the roof space. The rest had been made over to look like a castle courtyard, complete with hedges and pots of plants. The stone work beneath their feet was laid out in a cobblestone pattern, and there were strings of fairy lights in a couple of small decorative trees. It had become a haven for the Clan when they came over to visit with her. It reminded them of their castle homes.

Elisa found it a relaxing place to hang out when the weather was nice, away from the crowds and noise.

Tonight, it was not as inviting, however. Goliath had only just awakened, and had not yet heard about Canmore. Since that was not a possible topic of discussion...she was pretty sure she already knew what Goliath wanted to talk about. 

“Elisa,” Goliath started. “I am glad that you are feeling better.”

“So am I,” Elisa said. “That headache was killer.”

Goliath frowned. Gargoyles did not get sick. They did not feel the heat or the cold. Elisa … all humans, actually … felt so much more than they did. Gargoyles could heal almost anything during their stone sleep, but he had seen Elisa fight through illness and injury that lasted days, weeks or, in the case of when she had been accidently shot by Broadway, months. He was relieved that she had healed from this latest injury so quickly, even if the bruising was still visible.

“Elisa,” he reached out and took her hands in one of his large ones. “I do not want to burden you while you are hurt, but I could have lost you yesterday.” He gently stroked the side of her face that carried the mark of the incident in question. “I could not bear it if something had happened to you… If I had lost you. I must ask you again, when can I make you my mate. My wife.”

Elisa sighed. This had been a fairly regular conversation lately, over the last month it happened every two or three days, and she knew he was losing patience. She was trying to figure out how to put her feelings into words, and she still didn’t know how to say it all.

“Goliath,” she began, her reluctance echoing in her voice. She  **_so_ ** did not need this right now. Not with everything else crashing down around her right now.

Goliath growled, frustrated, and released her hands. “Elisa, we love each other. I do not understand where this hesitation is coming from and why it is there.” He placed a hand gently against the unbruised side of her face, forcing her to meet his eyes. “Please, tell me what is wrong.”

Elisa sighed deeply. Maybe it was time to lay it all out. She was stretched pretty thin emotionally anyway, and this was something that she didn’t need.

“Goliath, I…” She hesitated. “I want to, but… I’m not sure that I  _ should _ marry you.”

Goliath was stunned. He backed away and looked at her as if he had never seen her before.

“Elisa…”

She held up her hand to stave off his protest. “I love you. That is not the issue. It’s just…” She trailed off, letting her hand drop back to her side, still unsure of how to tell him her thoughts.

Goliath stood to his full impressive height. His face was blank, and Elisa couldn’t read his feelings.

“Goliath, please, just…” Elisa was almost afraid to say anything else right then. The emotional roller coaster that she had been on all day had left her feeling raw.

“Why? Why do you feel this way?” He demanded, his quiet voice almost worse than if he had shouted.

Elisa cringed. “It’s not fair. To you. To the clan.”

Goliath looked stunned. “What?”

Elisa hugged her arms around her waist. She wasn’t a coward. Emotions be damned. Canmore be damned. She had started this, and by the Gods, she would see it through. “Goliath, tell me that you haven’t thought about it. I can’t give you children, and that’s what the clan needs. Hell,” Elisa blurted out, “All of the clans of Gargoyles need more children. Your race is so small in number, that it feels like I would be cheating all of you out of the chance for there to be more Gargoyles in the world.” She was surprised how easily she was able to voice it all now, as it came spilling out, even though it hurt her badly to do so. It was if once she had started, she couldn’t stop… and maybe she shouldn’t. 

She looked away from Goliath, fearing to see his reactions or even meet his gaze. Elisa turned and walked toward the chest high wall that surrounded her courtyard. “There’s also the aging thing, Goliath. You age so much slower than I will. I will be an old lady and die long before you, and the thought of leaving you behind, alone, is almost unbearable for me.”

“That does not…” Goliath started, only to be interrupted when Elisa turned. There was suddenly an anger reflected on her face, that worked more than anything to drive the point home.

“Don’t say it doesn’t matter,” Elisa ground out. “It might not now, but what about a year from now? Five years? Ten?

“And what about your relationship with the other clans around the world?” Elisa pointed out. “How would having a human mate look to the others? I don’t want to alienate you from having any kind of relationship with them.”

Goliath stood, as still as if he were still in stone sleep. He had not known that all of this was weighing in on Elisa’s mind. He had tried to be patient with her, but there always seemed to be another reason for her to push their relationship backwards instead of forward towards the future that he knew they could have.

“Look at us, Goliath,” Elisa said, gesturing at the two of them. “We’ve had to deal with Demona, and Sevarius, clones, mutates and all kinds of mythological creatures. Then there was the Hunters,” Elisa gave an involuntary shudder. 

“All the more reason for us to remain together,” Goliath said, his deep voice rumbling across the rooftop. “We can face anything, together. I love you, my Elisa.”

“We tried.” Elisa said softly, unable to meet his eyes. “God, did we try, but we just keep hurting each other and making the same mistakes over and over again. We get close, then end up pushing the away from each other when something else nasty happens. I love you, I do, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm tired of waiting for the next big thing to tear us apart, only to reconcile because we love each other so damn much. Love just isn't enough to make this work. I am just afraid that, if we went through with the marriage, you would start resenting me. Maybe someday even hating me, and I couldn’t take that. ” 

“There is nothing I can say, I guess.” Goliath answered, his voice and posture stiff. He was hurt, badly, by his love’s unwillingness to speak of her feelings, and he did not want to fight over what he saw as such insignificant things. 

Had he thought of these same things? Yes. 

Had he fought his feelings? Of course, and for much of the same reasons that she had just spoken of.

In the end, his love for her had won out over all, and it hurt to have them thrown back at him from the very person he loved.

“Maybe you should just go, Goliath,” Elisa said quietly, looking away from him once more.

“Yes,” He agreed. He needed space and time to think, and he hoped that giving them to her as well would help her work it out in her mind as well.

Silently, he hopped up onto the wall, spread his wings and took to the air.

He was not willing to let Elisa go without a fight, but he needed her more willing to talk things through. She was a passionate woman, in all things, but sometimes it was hard to argue with passionate people who couldn’t see through it to be able to reasonably discuss things.

Knowing Elisa as he did, he knew that she would need a night or two to come to her senses.

He would try again tomorrow. He would not give up.


	13. Chapter 13

Elisa stayed in the courtyard for a few minutes by herself. Viciously, she swiped at the tears that she found trailing down her face. 

Damn it all. That was why she hadn’t said anything sooner, because she knew it would all come out wrong. 

Or had it? Elisa hadn’t lied about anything. Everything that she had said had been there, in her mind, wreaking havoc on her emotions for months.

Taking a deep breath, Elisa turned to go back inside. 

The television was still going, the low, sad music of the movie’s ending credits the only sound.

The sound of the water turning on in the bathroom signaled Beth’s whereabouts, giving Elisa a moment or two more to calm down. She was angry, sure, but more than that, she was hurt.

It didn’t make sense. She was the one with all the doubts and fears. She had opened her mouth and aired it all. Yet, here she was, feeling hurt that Goliath hadn’t even tried to fight her. Fight  _ for _ her.

Gods, had she just become one of  _ those _ females? The ones from those cheesy romantic novels who didn’t know what they wanted, so tended to make everyone around her miserable as well?

Elisa honestly didn’t know, anymore. She was a detective, and made her life through facts and reasoning. Her feelings made no sense, and she didn’t know what to do about it.

“Elisa?” came the hesitant voice from behind her.

Elisa turned to face her, and Beth got her first good look at Elisa’s face. Elisa looked devastated.

Beth hurried towards her sister. “What happened?”

“I…” Elisa started, her voice rough with the effort to keep from crying.

“Did something happen?” Beth prodded.

Elisa nodded, unable to speak anymore.

“Elisa, you’re scaring me,” Beth said, honestly. It was hard to see her tough as nails sister looking as if the world had just shattered around her. “Did Goliath say something?”

“Yes. No. I can’t…” Elisa shook her head. “I think I just messed up, Beth.”

“What? Tell me what happened.”

“Goliath asked me to marry him a few months ago.” Elisa admitted. “But I don’t know if that’s going to happen now.”

“What?” Beth asked, surprised. Yes, she had noticed the ring, but it didn’t look like a typical engagement ring. She’d thought that Elisa had just gotten a new piece of jewelry. “I’m happy for you guys! I  _ thought _ something was between you two the first time that I met you in Arizona. What just happened?”

Elisa shrugged. “There are just a lot of obstacles in our way, Beth.”

“Well, sure. Every relationship, the ones worth a damn, have their challenges.” Beth shrugged. “Like our parents.”

Elisa sent her sister a withering glance. “It’s a little different than our parents.”

“Not as different as you might think,” Beth shot back. “Do you remember growing up? The first time some of our friends or their parents met ours?”

Elisa frowned.

Beth continued on, “We are the product of a marriage of an African American woman and a Native American man. When they first started dating, that was really frowned upon because of their race, Elisa. I still remember getting bullied for being a “half breed” by some of our cousins on dad’s side, and hearing worse coming from some of my classmates. It had to have been worse for them, though,” Beth mused. “Considering the time and the lack of racial tolerance in this country at that time, it’s amazing that they stuck it out.”

Elisa shifted uneasily. Beth was calling into question all of her feelings and fears of a relationship between Goliath and herself.

“And I can’t believe that Goliath would leave your side, even if he was angry, knowing that that Canmore creep is out there,” Beth huffed, angry in sister solidarity. She could pick on her siblings, but may the gods help anyone outside of the family to do so.

“I, uh,” Elisa’s remaining anger dissipating in front of Beth’s eyes. “I didn’t get the chance to tell him.”

Beth was momentarily taken aback. There was nothing that Elisa and Goliath didn’t talk about or tell each other. Ever. Judging by the times that Elisa would make some obscure crack to either Beth or Derek about some of their escapades growing up with Goliath cracking a small knowing smile, Beth was fairly certain that Goliath knew a LOT. About EVERYTHING.

And when it came to a matter of safety, both Goliath and Elisa were fanatical about the other.

“You know what,” Beth said, breezily, trying to change the subject. “What’s done is done for tonight. I am taking you out for a good, old fashioned male bashing night.”

“What?” Elisa bursted out in a surprised laugh. 

“Don’t tell me that you’ve never had one,” Beth admonished her. “I know that you haven’t dated much, but you have seriously never had a bashing night?”

“No,” Elisa admitted. “What is involved in said bashing?”

“We go out,” Beth grabbed her tweed coat, and tossed Elisa’s red bomber style jacket at her. “We have a little too much to drink. Karaoke may be involved at some point. We come home and eat too much ice cream and we do some female bonding over conversations on how much bastards men are.”

Elisa couldn’t help it. She laughed at her sister.

Beth shrugged into her coat and grabbed her bag from the small table in the entranceway. “Males are males, no matter their race, religion or species. Now, come on,” Beth urged. “Put your hair down to cover those colorful patches of bruising, and let’s go forget them all for a while.”

“Alright,” Elisa agreed. “Let’s go.”


	14. Chapter 14

Beth took Elisa to ‘Slate’, a restaurant only a few blocks from her condo, that had a full bar and pool tables. It was a quiet night, so the restaurant was not full. 

Beth had pulled the hostess aside, and explained their reason for being there. The hostess had just broken up with her “dumb ass boyfriend” earlier that week, and was sympathetic. She snagged them a corner table, off by itself with a pool table right beside it so that they could have as much time as possible to themselves.

The waitress, also sharing in the female solidarity, brought them a pair of beers on the house. 

Beth bought Elisa a few shots to start things off. Elisa downed them quickly, and the warmth from the alcohol almost immediately had her starting to relax.

Beth took the opportunity to grill Elisa for details. “So… did he do the one knee thing?”

Through the rest of the night, Beth kept Elisa talking. Her hope was that if Elisa talked enough, maybe she’d be able to work her own issues out. Goliath was a good guy, if that was the correct term for the Gargoyle leader. He’d treat Elisa well, and his own protective instincts would work with him to keep her safe from all of the crazies that seemed to focus on her.

Maybe he could even save her from herself.

They had a few rousing games of pool, drank a little too much, and had a great time out. Elisa had loosened up enough to drop the tough female cop side of herself, and was able to just be a heartbroken female for a while.

The waitress had helped run interference all night, making sure to keep the groups of single guys far away from the two small females. Elisa and Beth had been firmly surrounded by couples or groups of other females. 

She had earned the Maza women’s respect… and a good sized tip for her efforts.

Both women were more than a little tipsy, and Elisa was thankful that they had walked to the restaurant. And even though it wasn’t a far walk back, she was thinking that a cab may be in order to get them home. 

“Hey, Beth,” Elisa called out over the loud music on the jukebox. “I think I’m done for the night. It’s really warm in here, and I need to step outside for a minute.”

“O.K.,” Beth said. “I’ll go pay the tab, and meet you outside in a minute. Stay where I can see you.”

Elisa laughed and nodded. “Yes, mom,” she called over her shoulder. She slipped her coat on, and stepped out into the early May nighttime air. It was still cool enough at night to need a jacket, but tonight the cold air felt wonderful. Elisa took her coat back off and sighed, relieved. The night air felt amazing, and even with the street noise, it was quieter outside than it had been in the bar. 

Elisa leaned back against the cool brick exterior, careful to keep Beth in sight through the large plate glass window of the bar entrance of the restaurant. 

It had been good to get out with Beth, and it had helped work out some things in her mind. She took out her communicator from the inner pocket of her red coat, and flipped it on. She held her cell phone to her ear, so that it wouldn’t look like she was talking to herself like a crazy person.

“Hey,” she said, proud that she hadn’t drank enough to slur her speech. She didn’t need to embarrass herself any more tonight. “Is anyone on tonight?”

Broadway, Brooklyn, and Angela checked in.

“Elisa!” Lexington called. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine, Lex,” She answered, trying to sound her normal, in control self. “Is there any chance that Goliath has his communicator on him?”

“Uhhh,” Lexington hesitated. 

“I am here,” Goliath broke in. 

“Thank goodness,” Elisa breathed. “Hey guys, I love you all like family, but can I have a moment with Goliath?”

“Sure,” Lexington said. There was an audible click, and Elisa knew that he had closed off the communication between all but Goliath and Elisa’s communicators.

“Goliath, I am so sorry,” Elisa rushed out. “I don’t know what I was thinking earlier. It has just been a crazy couple of days, and I took it out on you.”

“Elisa,” Goliath’s voice rumbled through the tiny device in Elisa’s ear. “There is nothing to forgive. We knew that there would be challenges ahead for us. This was just one of many.”

“Can we just forget what I said tonight?” Elisa asked.

“I don’t think that is wise,” Goliath said. “I would never want to forget or dismiss your feelings about anything, my Elisa. However, it is after midnight, and it is a new day. Let us focus on that.”

“If you are still interested,” Elisa said, shyly, “I would still really like to marry you. Gargoyle ceremony, human ceremony, it doesn’t matter.”

She could almost hear the smile in his voice. “I would like that as well.”

“I love you,” Elisa said. “Whatever happens, never doubt that.”

“I never will.” He hurried to assure her. “Are you at home?”

“No,” Elisa said, not wanting to admit that he was out making the streets safe, and she had been having a drunken pity party with Beth. “I was having a late dinner with Beth, at that new place, called Slate.”

A noise coming from the nearby alley caught Elisa’s attention. Turning, she saw a small girl, dirty and obviously scared. “Hey big guy, give me a moment.”

Elisa lowered her phone, and leaned down to the little girl. “Hey, sweetie. What’s wrong?”

“Can you help me?” She asked. “My little brother is sick.”

“Where?” Elisa asked, all business now. She was a trained first responder, and routinely renewed her first aid and emergency care training with the precinct. If there was someone, a child, who needed help, she would go.

The little girl took off at a run down the dark alley. Elisa hesitated only a moment, wanting to let Beth know where she was going, but the little girl was moving too quickly. Afraid that she would lose sight of her, Elisa started to run, struggling to keep up. The little girl obviously knew this area very well, dodging through the alley’s many obstacles. The girl made one final turn, and Elisa completely lost sight of her then. 

“Hello?” she called out.

“Elisa,” Goliath spoke through the communicator. “What is wrong?”

“There was a girl who said she needed help.” Elisa responded, still searching the shadows for the child.

“Tell me where you are, and I can come help,” Goliath urged her.

“I don’t really know,” Elisa said, looking around. “I am in an alley off of 21st street, somewhere near the Slate restaurant.”

“I am coming,” he said, and Elisa caught the sound of the wind as he made his turn in the sky.

There was a beeping noise, and suddenly the clan had been tuned back into the conversation.

Elisa caught a movement between two large dumpsters. She sighed in relief. She had been afraid that she had lost the little girl completely.

“Hey,” Elisa called out softly. She walked towards where she had spotted the movement. “Are you ok, sweetie?”

A heavy footfall behind her caused her to turn her head. She caught sight of a large, black tennis shoe before something heavy struck the side of her head.

Elisa was unconscious before she hit the ground.


	15. Chapter 15

High above the city, Goliath was listening to his love speaking quietly to what she thought was a child who needed help. He was still a few minutes away, approaching Union Square Park, and keeping an ear on the conversation.

He heard her call out to the child, then heard two loud thumps. 

“Elisa?” He called out, softer the first time, shouting the second. “Elisa?”

When he got no response, Goliath folded his wings and used the gravity to pick up speed. Something was wrong, he could feel it.

Over the chatter of the other clan members, there came a scraping sound and a loud bang.

Goliath crossed over onto 21st street. He had no idea which of the alleys she had gone into, but was hurriedly scanning for her. 

He spotted Beth, looking up and down 21st street, and aimed for the alley near there.

Landing, he cloaked his wings and called out to her.

“Goliath,” Beth seemed relieved to see him. “Please tell me that Elisa is with you.”

He frowned. “No. She said she was helping someone, then she stopped talking on the communicators. She said she was in an alley near here.”

He turned, making his way through the alley with Beth following closely behind.

“Please, please be back here,” Beth chanted softly, following Goliath’s impressive form through the darkening alleys.

“What is going on, Beth?” Goliath asked. “Something was bothering her earlier, more than was spoken of.”

Beth hesitated, then blurted out, “Jon Canmore escaped from Attica Prison a few days ago. I was not supposed to let her out of my sight, but she needed some fresh air, and it was only for a moment…”

Goliath growled, his luminescent eyes lighting in anger. Jon Canmore had gotten his hands on Elisa once before, and the abduction had left its imprint, long after the physical wounds had healed. 

The thought that she could be in his presence again terrified him.

Goliath started running then, using his excellent night vision to scan every nook and cranny of the alleys, turning one way, then backtracking to go the other way. He had made it to the farthest corner from the restaurant, almost back on the street on the other end of the city block, when a flash of red caught his eye. Reaching down, he retrieved Elisa’s red coat.

An audible gasp caught his attention. 

“That’s Elisa’s,” Beth stated the obvious in a daze. She looked frantically around them in hopes that she was nearby. “She loves that coat, There’s no way she’d leave it behind forgotten like this.”

“I agree,” Goliath said, holding the precious coat in one hand while scanning the ground near where it had been lying. “Something has happened.”

“Canmore?” Beth asked, frightened.

“Perhaps.” He growled.

There were a trio of thumps behind them, causing Goliath and Beth to whirl around. Broadway, Brooklyn and Angela stepped forward from the shadows.

“What happened?” Brooklyn asked, seeing Elisa’s coat and rushing towards the clan leader.

“Elisa is missing,” Goliath stated, simply. “Jon Canmore has escaped prison and may be somewhere in the city.”

“You don’t think he kidnapped Elisa?” Angela breathed. 

Goliath nodded slowly. “It is a possibility.”

“Elisa also had a lot to drink,” Beth admitted grimly. “She might have just dropped the coat and is somewhere close. She didn’t have time to get too far away...”

The Gargoyles shared a look between them. Beth was grasping at straws, they all knew, trying to avoid the possibility that Elisa had actually been taken by someone who wished her harm.

They all knew what Canmore was capable of.

Goliath simply looked at her coat in his hands, and seemed to freeze.

Brooklyn stepped up as second in command then. They all had great affection for Elisa, but she was the love of Goliath’s life. He couldn’t blame their leader for being dazed to the point of inaction.

“Beth,” He said, taking on the job of assigning tasks. “You call the police and your dad. We need as many eyes and ears on this that we can get.” Brooklyn turned to his clan mates. “You two, get up in the air and start looking for her, just in case she’s still in the area.”

Beth nodded, relieved to have something to do. She got her phone out and immediately dialed 911.

“On it,” Broadway said, and began climbing the nearest building.

Angela placed a supportive hand on her father’s shoulder before following her mate up the building to take to the air. 

Brooklyn turned to Goliath.

“Goliath,” Brooklyn lowered his voice, but knew he needed to snap his friend out of his stupor. “The police will be here soon. I know you’re hurting, but we need to get out of here. You should go to the castle, and fill in Xanatos in case she makes her way there.” Goliath nodded slowly.

Beth hung up with the police, and hesitantly approached Goliath. “I need her coat, Goliath,”

He glared at her, but she persisted. “They are going to need it for evidence, and a starting off point as to where she was taken.”

Reluctantly, he opened his hand so that Beth could take it.

Siren wails split the night around them, growing louder as they drew nearer.

“Go,” Beth advised. “Before they get here.”

Brooklyn gave Goliath a shove and managed to get him up the building. Goliath took to the air, heading for the castle.

“Did you get that, Lex?”

“I heard it,” Lex reported grimly. “I am trying to track her communicator, but it was either damaged or turned off.”

“Great,” Brooklyn said. He’d figured there would be something like that. 

Brooklyn hung out on the rooftop, keeping his eyes and ears open to relay information to the clan. He watched as the police swarmed the area and began questioning Beth. 

Matt showed up not long after, taking Beth aside. Brooklyn strained to hear their conversation, but couldn’t make it out. Beth pointed up at one point, and he assumed that she was telling Matt that the clan had been there.

Matt nodded once, and led Beth to his car. He opened the passenger door, and helped Beth inside. He left the door open, and spoke with her a little more. Brooklyn saw Matt reach into his glove compartment and place the small device he extracted into his ear, and suddenly there was a click through the communicators, signalling that someone had just linked up.

“Brooklyn, are you there?” Matt’s voice came out on the communicator.

“Yeah, Matt,” Brooklyn answered.

“Are you still in the area?” 

“I’m right above you, on the red brick building.”

“O.K.” Matt replied. “I am guessing that you are all out there, looking for Elisa, too.”

“You got it,” Brooklyn said. “Goliath was heading back to the castle, in case Elisa shows up there, but Angela and Broadway are looking from above. Lexington is trying to track her communicator, but that’s a dead end at the moment.”

“O.K.,” Matt said again. “I suppose you all heard about Canmore.”

“Just a few minutes ago,” Brooklyn confirmed. 

“Any idea where he would take her?”

Brooklyn ran a frustrated hand over his hair. “Last time, he had kept Elisa at a warehouse somewhere.”

“Where?” Matt barked.

“Elisa never could tell us where. She didn’t know.”

“Damn,” Matt muttered. “I was hoping you guys had found it.”

“Sorry, man,” Brooklyn said. “If we knew, we’d be there looking.”

“You’re right,” Matt said. “Normally we have to wait 24 hours to investigate a disappearance, but we are treating this as an abduction so we can start right away. Give me the highlights. Between you and Beth, I need a complete picture of what happened.”

Goliath’s voice broke in, anxious to fill in any information that could help. “I woke this evening on Elisa’s rooftop…”


	16. Chapter 16

Half an hour later, no one had any better idea of where to start. The NYPD had cordoned off the alley, and there was a parade of detectives going through it. It seemed as if every available detective in New york had been called in to help.

Brooklyn finally had to leave. He had waited long enough that the only place safe he could make it to was Elisa’s rooftop. He landed, and was surprised to find the lights on inside. Cautiously, he moved forward until he could see inside. Diane and Peter Maza were sitting on the couch, Peter’s arms around his wife’s shoulders. Beth was sitting in one of the arm chairs, her head held in her hands. Derek was pacing the room, as restless at the jungle cat he resembled.

Elisa’s boss, Captain Maria Chavez, was sitting in the other chair, having what appeared to be a very heated conversation on the phone.

Thankfully, everyone in the room knew the Gargoyle Clan existed. He reached out to tap a taloned finger on the glass of the sliding door.

Beth’s head shot up, and she ran to open the door. 

“Brooklyn!” Beth greeted. “What’s going on? Did they find anything else?”

Brooklyn shook his head. “They didn’t, I’m sorry. They are still there, looking, though.”

A muffled sob came from across the room, and Diane buried her face in her husband’s neck. 

Peter tightened his hold on her shoulders. “I have called in every favor that I could,” Peter added. “I may be old and retired, but I still have some connections in the NYPD.”

Maria finished barking orders into the phone, and ended the call. “Nothing. No fingerprints, no shoe imprints, no witnesses.”

“And the sun is about to rise,” Brooklyn said, frustrated.

“We’ll keep looking,” Maria assured him. “There’s a cop missing and an escaped convict with a grudge on the loose. I have officers who are looking into the case who are working off the clock, on their own time.”

“I’ll have people of my own looking,” Derek said. “There are plenty of people in the labyrinth who will be able to be out on the streets, looking for her.”

“This is all my fault,” Beth moaned, collapsing against the wall and sliding down into a sitting position. “I let her go outside alone.”

Brooklyn shook his head. “Goliath said that he heard Elisa talking to a little kid. The girl was asking for help, and led Elisa into the alley. We all know that Elisa couldn’t leave a child who was asking for help, and whoever took her knew that too. The kid was bait, whether they knew about it or not.”

Derek knelt down to comfort his sister. “Beth, you stay here today in case Elisa is able to make it back here. I’ll go back to the labyrinth in case she goes there.” He looked at his parents, “Dad, you and mom should go home. The Xanatos’ are keeping an eye out for her at the castle, and if you’re home, that makes four places that Elisa could go that she’d know would be safe.”

Peter nodded. He saw the reasoning behind Derek’s words, and was thankful that his son had grown from a hot headed kid to such a responsible adult.

He gathered Diane up, helping her to the elevator.

Brooklyn made it back outside just in time for the first morning rays of light to enter the sky. Safely ensconced in his stone sleep, Brooklyn was out of commission until the sunset that night.

Derek wrapped himself in his long, tan duster and matching fedora. It was an idea that he had gotten from Broadway as a way to take short jaunts outside without showing the humans what he looked like. He rode the elevator down, and made his way across the street, to the alley beside the Flatiron Lounge. About halfway down the alley, there was a manhole cover that led to one of the many drainage tubes that led to the Labyrinth. From there, he would start spreading the word. Elisa had been to the labyrinth often enough that most of the people there should know what she looked like.

It was a far shot, but he was hoping that someone knew something.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

  
  


Elisa opened her eyes, only to slam them shut again. The light that had made it into her eyes felt like glass shards to her brain. She felt nauseous again, and she had that “been on the merry go round too long” feeling, like the room was still spinning around her.

Elisa knew she was in trouble. She didn’t remember anything after being struck on her head, but her pain and symptoms she was experiencing now were similar to after being trampled in the crowd. If she were going to be honest with herself, it actually felt worse now than she had a few days ago.

That was not a good sign. 

With her eyes still closed, Elisa ran through everything that she knew. She was alive, that was the most important thing so far. She was sitting on a hard chair, either metal or wood. Her hands were tied behind her back, and her elbows here secured to the sides of the chair. She was secured at the ankles, and after some shifting on the chair, she discovered that her knees were also secured.

She remembered the only other time she had been tied up like this, and she felt a cold chill go through her body.

Jon Canmore. 

Elisa pried her eyes open a fraction of an inch at a time, surprised at the difficulty in getting her RIGHT eye open. She finally managed it, only to figure out that her eyelids must have been sealed shut with blood. The strike to the head must have created an open wound somewhere.

In her experience on the force, she knew that head wounds bleed like crazy. Even if they weren't serious.

There was a faint reddish tint to her vision, and a good amount of blood covering her shirt and staining one leg of her jeans. It didn't seem too fresh, however, so it must have stopped bleeding a while ago.

She was already recovering from a concussion, so even the smallest knock to the head had her worried.

Without moving her head, she opened her eyes into the barest of slits until she was able to look around her and take in her surroundings.

From the rusting corrugated metal walls and the many empty, rotting wooden pallets, she guessed that she was in an old warehouse. There was a distinct heaviness and smell to the air that let her know that they were near the water.

She didn’t recognize the place, however. It would have been far too much to hope that he had taken her to the place she had been held the last time the youngest Canmore kid had gone insane. She had spent so much time studying that place that it was permanently etched in her brain.

She fought off a sudden wave of hopelessness.

Two male voices were slowly growing louder as they approached where she was tied to the chair. Elisa let her head droop back down, letting her head flop forward over her face and closed her eyes once more. If they thought she was still unconscious, she hoped they would just leave her alone.

Time seemed to pass quickly, judging by the light patterns on the floor. Elisa also realized that she may have lost consciousness at least once more that afternoon, although it may have actually been twice. 

Finally, she heard the one voice that had haunted her. Jon Canmore’s voice brought on a flood of pure anger, tinged with a healthy dose of fear. He was barely sane when she dealt with him last. Elisa wanted nothing to do with him after months of prison and solitary confinement.

Taking deep breaths, Elisa continued to feign sleep.

Canmore’s voice continued to get louder, telling her that he was coming right for her. Taking one last painful glance at the shadows on the floor, Elisa could tell that it was late enough that the sun would be setting in a short time.

A splash of ice cold water had Elisa gasping and jerking in shock.

“That, gentlemen, is a tried and true method of waking someone up to question them.” came the smooth voice of the youngest Canmore sibling. The Hunter. 

Elisa felt a hand grasp her chin, forcing her face upward. 

“Hello, detective,” Canmore said. “We meet again.”

Elisa said nothing, but managed to open her eyes enough to glare at him.

“There,” Canmore said, smiling and seeming pleased with himself. “There is the Detective Maza that I came to know and loathe.”

Elisa jerked her head away from his hand and regretted it almost immediately. The room gave a sudden, fast spin. Elisa was afraid that she was going to either pass out again or vomit. 

“Martinez, you and Jarrett hang out here and keep our detective friend here company.” Canmore barked to other people in the room, even though Elisa couldn’t see them. “The rest of you, come with me. We have a meeting to go to.”

Elisa heard the shuffling of feet, and listened to them as they faded.

The two men, Martinez and Jarrett, sidled up to sit at a small table in the corner. Elisa watched as one of them opened a pack of cards and began shuffling. They were on babysitting duty. As long as she was alive, and remained that way until the boss came back, they would consider it a job well done.

Elisa was trying to figure out what the next step was. Last time, she hadn’t fought overly much. She played the victim in hopes of getting away. Instead, she had been tied up and dangled over the Hudson River to be used as bait to trap the Gargoyles.

Or, more specifically, Goliath. Jon still thought of everything bad that had happened to his siblings and himself was entirely Goliath’s fault.

Elisa was not about to let herself be used like that again. It had been a close thing last time, with Goliath almost being badly hurt or killed. She’d be damned if he would get another chance. 

Elisa began fighting her bonds. 

“Hey,” a gruff voice shouted, “knock it off!”

Elisa began trying to find a weak spot in the ropes. She tried rotating her wrists, twisting and turning them, trying to get them to loosen. She cringed involuntarily when she felt the rough fibers of the rope bite into her skin, feeling the warm, wet and stickiness of her blood beginning to eke out from under the bonds.

“Jesus, lady,” Came the voice of the other guy in the room. “just stop, and you won’t get hurt.”

“Forget this,” The first voice said. Suddenly, Elisa felt her chair tip sideways and she was falling. The side of her face impacted on the dirty concrete floor.

“Jarrett,” the second voice admonished, “You shouldn’t have kicked her over like that. We aren’t supposed to hurt her.”

“Shut up, Martinez.”

Elisa was desperately trying to stay awake. She couldn’t afford to pass out again. She moved her head a little, and felt a curious shifting in her ear. Her communicator receiver was still in there. If she could get it out of her ear and turned on, Lexington could track it. Elisa almost cried in relief.

Slowly, so as not to attract their attention, Elisa shook her head, finally managing to dislodge the small white piece of technology. She then turned her face to the floor so that she could hit the button with her nose. There was a beeping noise that accompanied the communicator powering on.

With that completed, Elisa forced herself to go limp on the floor. Partly to make the men stop paying such close attention to her. Partially because she needed a rest. 

She was so damn tired, but did her best to stay awake.

Elisa watched as the sunlight slowly disappeared, and knew that the clan could very well be on their way. She was afraid to speak and tell the clan anything, in case she got the attention of the men in the room. 

A few minutes later, she got a chance, however. The two men ducked outside for what Elisa guessed to be a smoke break, if the acrid smoke smell was any indication. Elisa felt the urge to vomit again because of the smell, but took the chance to contact the Clan.

“Guys,” Elisa called as close to where the communicator lay on the ground that she could get. “Please. If you are hearing this, please turn on the tracker. I don’t know where I am, but Canmore is behind it.”

The guys came back in from their break, and Elisa fell silent once more. Almost half an hour later, they left the room again.

She took a chance, and tried to give them as much information as she could. “I think I’m in a warehouse, near water. Two of Canmore’s men are here with me. Be careful. He’s after you guys again, this time he’s even crazier than before, if that were possible.”

This time, she felt the vibration of sound coming from the earpiece where it lay next to her cheek. She couldn’t make out any actual words, but felt relief that she had reached someone.

“Hey,” Came a shout. Jerrett was back, and must have heard her talking. “What are you doing?”

Roughly, he righted her chair, and Elisa was out of time. She couldn’t hide the small white communicator, nor could she stop anything that happened from that point on.

“Damn it, I thought she had been searched!” Jarrett said. 

“I thought so, too,” Martinez said. “We took her phone and searched her pockets. Now what do we do?”

A distant siren’s wail suddenly broke the silent night.

“Damn it,” Jarrett swore again. “It’s the cops. We’ve got to get out of here.” He gave Elisa a disgusted look. “We can’t leave  _ her  _ here to talk to them.”

“What are we going to… Jarrett, no!” Martinez cried out.

Elisa saw the gun pointed at her, only moments before Jarrett pulled the trigger.

“No,” she screamed.

The sound reverberated in the large, empty building.

Elisa felt a searing pain.

Then, all went black.


	17. Chapter 17

“We’ve got her,” Lexington announced via communicator.

“Excellent,” Brooklyn yelled. “Where is she, Lex?”

“She’s in an industrial park in New Jersey.” Lexington relayed. “I’m calling Matt, and passing on the coordinates.”

“Thank you,” Goliath’s voice added. “I will head that way now.”

“Not alone, you’re not,” Brooklyn said. “We are all behind you, Goliath.”

“I will go that way now. You catch up when you are able,” Goliath conceded. He wasn’t going to turn down his clan’s help, but he wasn’t willing to stop moving to wait for them.

Matt’s voice came over the communicators. “You are amazing, Lex! I will relay the information to the Jersey Police, and meet you there.”

“I am going to try to boost the volume on her microphone,” Lex said, the sound of keystrokes accompanying him.

Goliath turned and set himself on a course that would take him across the bay and into New Jersey. He had the Statue of Liberty in his sights when Elisa started speaking again. All conversation through the communicators stopped so that they were able to listen. 

It was obvious to all that she was trying to give them information without being discovered, because her voice was so low that, even with the volume boost, they could barely hear her. “Warehouse... near water….” Elisa’s voice became easier to hear as Lexington worked his magic with the volume settings. “Two of Canmore’s men are here with me. Be careful. He’s after you guys again, this time he’s even crazier than before, if that were possible.”

This time, everyone heard a second voice. 

“Hey,” An angry man’s voice shouted. “What are you doing?”

There was a short, but loud, series of bangs and scrapes.

“Damn it, I thought she had been searched!” The voice suddenly yelled. 

“I thought so, too,” A third male voice protested. “We took her phone and searched her pockets. Now what do we do?”

“Damn it,” The first voice swore again. “It’s the cops. We’ve got to get out of here.” He paused, but his next words caused panic to spread through all who were listening. “We can’t leave  _ her  _ here to talk to them.”

The other voice chimed in one last time, “What are we going to… Jarrett, no!” 

Elisa’s scream filled the clan’s ears with her short, frantic shout. “No!”

There was the unmistakable sound of a gunshot, and all was silent except for the distant sound of approaching sirens.

Goliath’s heart felt as if it had stopped. He forgot he was in the air for a moment, and rapidly lost altitude. He managed to catch himself before hitting the bay, and pulled up just enough to make landfall on Liberty Island. He landed on the shore of the deserted island that was lit by the famous statue there. 

He took a moment to get himself under control. She wasn’t dead. She couldn’t be.

“Goliath,” Angela’s voice carried to him, as she skidded to a stop beside him. She threw her arms around him, and there were tears in her eyes.

Broadway and Brooklyn were close behind. Broadway landed heavy, falling to his knees and gasping. 

Brooklyn landed, but ran directly to his leader.

“Goliath,” he shouted, grabbing Goliath by the shoulders. “We need to keep going.”

“Aye, Lad,” Hudson said grimly. “Elisa may be hurt and still in need of our help.”

“Yes,” Goliath agreed, but his limbs felt as if they were made of lead.

“Get up,” Brooklyn shouted. He turned to Broadway, “Let’s go.”

Not waiting for the others, Brooklyn started running and extended his wings as he did so. Like a child’s kite, his wings caught the strong bay wind and lifted him off of the ground. 

Goliath fought his stubborn limbs and started running, and took back to the air. 

The others were close behind.

As they grew closer, with Lexington feeding them directions to where Elisa’s signal was still coming from, flashing lights caught their attention. The red and blue lights from the emergency vehicles were almost blinding in the dark of the night.

There was one warehouse in particular that had policemen surrounding it.

“There,” Goliath pointed, and folded his wings in to gain speed.

One by one, the five gargoyles landed on the roof. Cautiously, they approached the broken skylight so that they would be able to look in.

There were two floors to the building. The upper level consisted of a catwalk that ringed the building and held small offices. The downstairs held a few smaller rooms in the back, but was a maze of palletized goods in clusters and rows.

Police were everywhere. Some were milling around, talking with one another. Some had gone upstairs, their weapons out, and were opening the doors to what had probably once been the shipping offices to check inside. There were a few outside the building, searching the area with flashlights.

“There,” Brooklyn pointed to an area in the corner farthest from the main entrance doors. It had been cordoned off with yellow crime scene tape. The police were blocking their view, however.

“Matt,” Broadway called into the communicator, “Where are you?”

“I’m almost there, Broadway,” Matt hurried to assure him. Matt had heard the shot sound through his open link to the Gargoyles. He had turned on his lights and sirens, broken a few traffic laws and speed limits, and used every shortcut he had known. He skidded to a stop as close to the building as he could get, and began running. His call to the New Jersey police had paid off, and there were police everywhere.

There were also a fair number of onlookers and reporters. 

He pulled out his badge and kept pushing his way through the crowds. A few reporters tried to stop him and ask questions, but he just kept moving. His badge allowed him passage through the police line that was blocking civilians from entering the warehouse. 

Matt grabbed the first officer he could find in the warehouse. “I need to talk to the lead detective.”

“That would be Detective Weller,” the female officer said, pointing to a dark haired man a few feet away.

“Thanks,” Matt said, absently, and began making his way toward the man.

Detective Ed Weller was a tall, older man. He had salt and pepper hair that was thinning on top, a thin face and a thick mustache. He looked up and greeted Matt as he approached.

“Good evening, Detective,” Ed said, holding out his hand. 

“Thank you for meeting with me,” Matt shook the man’s hand. “What happened?” Matt asked, getting right to the point. 

“Honestly,” Ed said, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck, “We’re not sure. We got your call, and hustled as many units as we could down here, but what you see is pretty much what we found.”

Matt was surprised. “What about my partner?”

Ed shook his head, sadly. “No sign of her, but…”

“What?” Matt urged.

Ed sighed, placing his police issue cover back on his head. “I think you’d better come with me.”

Matt followed the detective to the rear of the warehouse, toward the back corner where there was more yellow tape up.

Matt spared a glance upward, and found the anxious faces of the Gargoyles looking down at him. He nodded, letting them know that he knew that they were there.

He moved to the outside of the tape, ducking under it when Ed held it up for him.

“We received the call from Captain Chavez and were on our way here when we got a report of gunfire being heard in the area,” Ed admitted. “But when we got here, there was no one here.”

“What?” Matt asked.

“Not a soul,” Ed admitted. “But we did find that,” Ed pointed to the corner.

Matt looked, and his heart dropped.

Blood had splattered the wall, and there was a small pool of it on the ground. A wooden chair was on its side near the blood, with pieces of cut rope strung around the area. The clan’s small, white communicator lay shattered on the ground.

There were small grooves making a pattern in the dirt and dust on the floor.

“Drag marks?” Matt asked.

“That’s what we think,” Ed said, giving the younger detective a pitying look. “Someone was definitely hurt here, and someone was dragged away from the scene. There’s not a lot of blood left here, so whatever happened, happened fast and they hauled ass.”

There was the echo of a loud roar and a series of loud thumps from above them.

Every officer in the building, and probably some of them from outside, glanced upwards to the roof.

Matt closed his eyes, and bowed his head. He reached up to his ear and removed the small communicator in his ear, and turned it off. He cursed himself for forgetting to do it sooner. Goliath had heard everything, and was most likely going to try to tear the place apart from the rooftop down.

It was done, though. He had to shake it off. There were questions that he needed answered, and the clan did not need to hear any more than they already had.

It was all speculation now, anyway. Elisa was not here. She could just be injured and taken somewhere else.

Elisa was a tough cookie and had survived a lot of situations that should have killed her.

He had to believe that she was still alive, for all of their sakes.

“So, no perps, no bodies and a pool of blood to show that someone was injured,” Matt summed up, grimly. “Any ideas?”

“My guess,” Ed said with a sigh, “Is that whoever was tied to that chair was the one who was shot, judging by the blood splatter height, pattern and traces on the chair itself. Maybe our sirens scared them, and they hauled whoever was hurt away, “ Ed pointed out the drag trail to Matt, so that he could follow it himself. “And out the back door. If they had a boat, they could have made it to the docks, loaded up and was out of eyesight when we got here.”

Matt nodded his understanding. That was his guess anyway, but it was nice to have it confirmed. He shouldn’t be there, at the scene. He was too close to the situation, with his friend and partner shot and hurt. 

He refused to believe that she could even possibly be dead.

He had to focus. The faster she could be located, the better they would all be.

He felt around in his pocket, pressing the button that would again allow the Gargoyles to hear what was going on. He palmed it, and casually placed it back in his ear by pretending to scratch an itch.

Ed continued, trying to reassure the detective whose partner was missing. “We’ve already contacted the coastguard, and they are patrolling the area. Helicopters on both sides of the Hudson have been deployed. Hopefully, we find something soon.”

“Would you mind if I went out back, and checked things out?” Matt asked.

“Go ahead,” Ed said, waving him on. “We’re almost done here tonight, anyway. Even with the security lights, we might have missed something, and there’s a lot of crap back there to comb over. We’re cordoning off the area, and I’ll be back tomorrow morning, to personally see if we can find anything more in the daylight.”

Matt nodded. He turned, and made his way to the door, careful not to disrupt the grooves left by whoever, or whatever, had been dragged out the door.

Matt made his way outside, and was relieved to see that most of the officers had once more retreated to the front of the building.

Word must have spread that the partner of the missing woman was there. The few officers that were there gave him a wide berth, and retreated back inside the building to give him space and time.

‘They probably all think she is dead, too,’ Matt thought bitterly. Elisa was a survivor, though. She had to be somewhere.

Matt traced the drag marks as far as he could, until they vanished at a nearby wooden docking area.

Looking around, Matt found himself alone in the yard. 

“Hey, guys,” Matt said softly. “Are you still up there?”

“Angela and I are,” Broadway said. “Brooklyn and Hudson followed after Goliath.”

Matt frowned. “Where did Goliath go?”

“We don’t know,” Broadway said. “He was really upset.”

Matt looked up at the building. “Can you guys come down here? It is feeling a little weird talking about this, and not being able to see you.”

A  _ whoosh _ sound heralded the arrival of the young Gargoyle couple. Visibly upset, Angela looked even smaller, more fragile next to her larger mate. She was hanging in there, but just barely. Matt wasn’t sure how much more this sheltered young female was going to be able to process.

“Guys,” Matt began, “First of all, there’s no sign of Elisa. There was some blood here,” he admitted, but hurried to add, “but it really wasn’t that much. We don't even know if it is hers, but I’ll make sure that a blood test is run to confirm whose it is.”

“So, Elisa is alive?” Angela asked, desperately wanting to hear the human detective say it out loud.

“She could be,” Matt verified, trying not to get her hopes up. “We aren’t going to give up looking for her. If the blood is hers, she may have been injured, then taken somewhere else.” Matt pointed out the tracks in the gravel covered ground. “We’re going to keep looking for her,” Matt said, quickly. “We’re not giving up on her. Elisa’s a fighter.”

The young couple nodded their heads. 

“O.K.,then,” Matt said. He looked at the sky. “You still have a little time left before sunrise,  right?”

“Yeah,” Broadway said.

“Enough for you to get back to the castle?”

“Yes,” Angela answered.

“Then you should go,” Matt urged. “Elisa usually goes to see Dr. James when she is hurt, right? If she gets away from these guys, and she really is hurt, she may go there.”

“He’s right,” Angela said, hope flaring in her eyes. “Elisa would go to the castle.”

“Let’s go,” Broadway said, determined now to race the sun.

“Let me know when Goliath and the others get back, so I don’t have to worry about them, too.” Matt asked. “I’ll leave my communicator on, just in case.” 

“Okay,” Angela said, tugging at Broadway’s arm. “We have to go.”

Broadway held out his arm to Matt, and they clasped forearms in the old warrior way. “Thanks, Matt,” Broadway said. 

The gargoyles climbed the nearest wall, lept into the air and were gone from sight only moments later.

Now that he knew the clan was gone, and no one was watching, Matt leaned up against the side of a stack of pallets, and covered his face with his hands. He was trying to be optimistic, but the dread he felt when he heard those two men yelling at Elisa and then the gunshot felt like a lead weight in his chest. The fact that there had been nothing from her since, did not bode well in his book.

If Elisa had gotten free, she would have called someone. 

If she were still able, and people were dragging her away, she would have done something. Left a sign. A trail to follow. Anything.

Right now the only trail to follow are the drag marks, and some blood drops leading to the docks. If they were from Elisa, he was going to have to prepare himself for the worst. 

In cases of abductions where people are awake and struggling while being dragged somewhere, the lines left behind are jagged. Broken.

The lines here at the warehouse were solid. No variations. Elisa wasn’t able to fight her captors for some unknown reason.

Conscious or not, if they had taken her away by boat, there was no way to track her from there. Even the scent would be masked for any K9 units to follow.

Matt lowered his hand and took a deep breath to calm himself. His night was not over yet. He still had to contact the Maza family. That was a duty that he did not want to do.

Steeling himself, he turned back toward the building. Opting to go around, rather than through it, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed the station’s number.

“This is Detective Bluestone,” Matt identified himself to the dispatcher. “I need to speak with Captain Chavez.”


	18. Chapter 18

It was a somber group of officers that met Matt at the station. Word spreads fast when an officer is injured, and with one of their own missing, presumed injured and possibly dead, the whole station felt it. 

Matt had always been on the other side of it, willing to do anything to help the fallen officer’s partner and family members.

This was his first time on the receiving end, and it was pissing him off a little. It almost seemed as if everyone had already written her off as dead and gone. They had given up on her, and he was not going to let that happen.

“Hey,” Matt ground out, “Don’t you guys have other things to do?”

The other officers gave him pitying looks, then went about their business.

‘Let them think what they want,’ Matt thought to himself. 

Matt made his way to Captain Chavez's office, only to find Peter Maza already there.

He wasn’t surprised, really. He would have been far more shocked had Peter  _ not _ been at the precinct.

Matt knocked on the door, and Maria opened it for him.

“Detective,” Captain Chavez greeted him. “Come on in.”

Peter had stood at the knock on the door. Face grim, he greeted his daughter’s partner.

“Peter,” Matt acknowledged.

“Glad you’re here, detective.” Maria said, taking her seat once more. “Peter and I were just going over the reports that New Jersey PD has sent over. Perhaps you can help paint a clearer picture of the scene, since you were there.”

Matt sighed, sitting in a free chair opposite the chief’s desk.

“The warehouse is over in Greenville,” Matt began.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

The sun rose the next day, and found the Hoboken University Medical Center a hive of activity. 

The morning shift of nurses and nursing students were just coming into work, and Margaret Wheeler was running a little behind. She had been up late, studying for her final exams, and practically skidded to a stop in front of the time clock. As luck would have it, she managed to squeak by less than a minute late.

Even so, she was sure she would hear about it by the end of the day. 

Ms. Klein, the head nurse of the intensive care unit, was a very punctual person. As such, she demanded nothing less from her employees. 

‘We work in a hospital,’ she would say. ‘If we run late or have an off day, people die.’

Resigned to her fate, Margaret tied her curly red hair back with an elastic band and got to work. She checked charts, logged medications and assisted those patients who were able to get around. 

The ER was surprisingly full that day, and a call had gone out to every department for any spare personnel to report to the ER to help.

Margaret was just passing the ambulance bay, when another rig came in, full lights and sirens blaring.

Margaret sighed, thinking it must have been a full moon that night, and that had to be the reason why the incoming patients were non-stop.

Two EMTs unloaded a gurney with a young red-headed woman on it. Margaret met them at the door, ready to grab the gurney and run with it.

“We’ve got an interesting one for you,” one of the emergency techs was saying. “Female, late 20’s, found unconscious on a small private fishing boat in Lincoln Harbor. Fisherman swears he hadn’t seen her before. He went to go do some fishing this morning, stopping for gas at the harbor. He went to pay for the gas, came back and there she was on the pier. She has a gsw to her left shoulder, numerous small lacerations and contusions. One large gash on the right side of her head and has not regained consciousness.”

Margaret examined the gunshot wound. “This wound is more than a few hours old,” She said, frowning. The amount of clotting and scabbing over that’s going on here, I’d say it happened early last night if not a little earlier in the day.”

The EMT nodded. “That’s what we thought, too. No blood where she was found, either.”

“Name?” Margaret asked, picking up a blank chart to begin making her notes for the doctors.

“No ID or personal affects were there.” The EMT said, sadly. “She’s just a Jane Doe.”

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Raquel Walker was bored in this thankless job. 

She was the first one in her family to go to college, but even with her Associate Degree in business management, there was very little that she could find in Manhattan without the actual work experience. Due to the lack of real world work experience, she took the first decently paying job she could find, and ended up a glorified filing clerk.

It wasn’t even that “glorified”. She was in charge of incoming and outgoing faxes, filing the paperwork away for the whole building, and handling the mail. 

She was slightly overweight, with a miniscule monthly budget, thanks to the student loans, so most of her clothes were second hand. She tended to fade into the background. There were so many people in and out of this place, they never even noticed her. 

Then again, she didn’t know half of the people here, either. 

The pay wasn’t bad, though, and she had her own office to work out of when she wasn’t needed in the actual filing rooms. That was pretty much the only reason that she was still there.

Raquel had just found a new social group last week, however, and believed that she truly had a lot in common with the people there. They found out where she worked, and they all suddenly were very interested in her and her duties. So far, she’d been invited out for dinner, for drinks, for after work activities.

All she had to do was keep an eye out for one specific thing. A report on a missing woman. Marcus, the new organizer for the group, asked her to keep an eye out for anything having to do with an “Elisa Maza”. 

In fact, the new leader of the group, a Marcus Whitmore, had personally taken an interest in her and had invited her out for breakfast before her shift, saying that he had something very important to discuss. He had met her at a restaurant around the corner from her station.

He was a tall, broad-shouldered man with dark, chocolate brown hair and brown eyes. He was intelligent and charismatic. He was handsome, and Raquel found herself flustered under his attention.

“Elisa is a member of our group,” Marcus said, sadly shaking his head. “I’m afraid that she is trying to get away from an abusive husband, and we are trying to help her. Unfortunately, her husband is a police officer.” Marcus placed his hand on Raquel’s on top of the table. “She has tried to get away before, but because of the police connection with the husband…”

“They didn’t believe her, did they?” Raquel asked, disbelieving. She was still fairly new, working for the precinct, but she had seen the police “good ol’ boy club” at work many times. Some officers would lie to cover each other’s butts, and no one was the wiser.

“No, they did not,” Marcus shook his head. “We found a safe house for her here in the city, but we need some time to get her farther away.”

“What can I do?” Raquel asked.

“We were finally able to get her away from her house last night, but we have heard that the husband is reporting her as “missing” or “kidnapped” as early as this morning. Possibly even last night. If you are asked to send out anything on Elisa Maza, we would like to have you,” Marcus made the air quotes in the air with his fingers, “”Accidentally” mix up her pictures, or her description.”

Raquel had gasped. “I could get in serious trouble. They might fire me, or put me in jail for tampering.”

“For an honest mistake?” Marcus asked, smiling innocently. “You are still young, new and possibly lacking in training. Besides, we, as a group, would take care of you in that case. We have lawyers in our ranks who would defend you if it came to that, free of charge. We have people in organizations across Manhattan who would welcome you and find you employment. Better positions with better pay.”

Raquel took a moment to weigh her options. In the end, as a female wanting to help another female who desperately needed help, there was only one decision she could make. “O.K.” She said with a smile. “If it will help her get away, I’ll do it.”

“Fantastic,” Marcus said, smiling like a proud parent at their child. “Please, let me know if anything comes in or goes out about her.”

“I will,” Raquel said. She looked at her watch, and jumped to her feet. “I’d better go, or I’ll be late!”

“We can’t have that,” Marcus said, smoothly. He clasped her hands once more and brushed a kiss to one of her cheeks. “I am grateful to you for the help. I knew you would be an amazing addition to our group. Welcome to the Quarrymen.”

Raquel had thanked him again, and hurried to the office. She clocked in, went to her desk and began sorting all of the paperwork and correspondence from last night.

“Wow,” Raquel said to herself. 

Marcus hadn’t been kidding. The night shift of officers were just going off the clock when she got there, and it seemed that every one of them had dropped off an armload of things for her to do. 

Shuffled in all of the paperwork that was slated to go out to other precincts and hospitals were several reports on Elisa Maza. One of which was a Missing Person report, to be sent all over New York and New Jersey. The easiest way to deal with that was to switch the picture out. Cautiously, Raquel cut the picture of Elisa out. Raquel went to the file cabinet, and grabbed a handful of recent “Jane Doe” pictures. She switched out Elisa’s dark skinned and exotic looking face for a young blonde woman with classical features. She ran the flyer through the photocopy machine to make it all one piece of paper, as if nothing had ever happened to it. Humming, Raquel slipped Elisa’s cut out picture into the bottom right drawer with her purse.

Every other item that was outgoing, and involved Elisa, she would mix up facts, descriptions, ages, and anything else that would help the poor woman hide.

Confident that she had just done the right thing, Raquel went back to her regular duties, always keeping watch on the incoming papers for Elisa’s name.


	19. Chapter 19

**Two Days Later**

Margaret was exhausted. Her shift was almost completed, and she wanted to do one more check up on a few of her patients. The last room on her list was the “Jane Doe” that had come in.

Margaret opened the door, and stopped short. The woman on the bed barely resembled the woman that Margaret remembered seeing two days ago. 

When Jane Doe had first come in, Margaret had thought that the woman had red hair. Now that the area around her head wound had been cleaned, she realized that the unknown woman actually had black hair. The rest of the “red” coloring was now a dry, crusty rust that pointed to the red color being dried blood. Not only that, but now a good sized amount of the woman’s hair had been shaved in order for the doctors to stitch the laceration she had on her head closed. 

There were wires and machines. IV bags hung from racks, and were slowly pumping the woman on the bed full of necessary fluids and antibiotics. Tape covered the lower half of her face, holding the tubes in place that were helping her to breathe and with feedings since her surgery. It was unknown how long she would remain unconscious, but the longer she was under, the lower her chances of survival.

Jane Doe had a hospital gown on, but the left shoulder had been left uncovered because of the bulky after-surgery bandages covering her gunshot wound. The bullet had gone in and been lodged just inside her Scapula, preventing it from going completely though. An inch lower, and it would have gotten her heart.

Margaret would call her lucky, but according to her chart, a physical exam had uncovered a whole host of injuries, old and new, and another gsw scar that looked to be a couple of years old. 

This Jane Doe liked to live dangerously, Margaret guessed. She was just putting the chart away in the bedside file holder, when a hand flew out from the bed and grabbed hers.

Margaret let out an involuntary scream in fright.

She looked from the hand to the bed, and finally to the person the hand belonged to.

Frightened brown eyes met her own. 

“Miss,” Margaret said, softly. “You’re in a hospital. You are going to be fine.”

The woman was beginning to panic, Margaret could see that. There was a gurgling sound coming from her throat as she fought against the tubing.

“It’s alright,” Margaret hurried to reassure her. “It’s just a small tube. You’re in the hospital, and you’ve had surgery.”

The woman on the bed continued to struggle, and Margaret pushed the woman’s hands down to hold the railing on the sides of the bed. “Here, hold on to the railing,” she hurried to remove the taping, “let me help you.”

With quick, efficient movements, Margaret removed the plastic tubing.

The woman on the bed instantly calmed. She took a deep, calming breath and let her grip on the railings loosen. 

“There we go,” Margaret said, soothingly. “That’s better. Slow breaths.”

Jane Doe slowed her breathing, and her eyes looked a little less wild with every moment that passed. 

“You’re probably really thirsty,” Margaret said, feeling silly to have not thought about it. She filled a small pink cup on the nightstand from a matching pitcher of water. There was a paper-wrapped straw that Margaret hurried to open to aid the woman. “Here, slow now. Your throat may be a little sore from the tubes,” Margaret said, helping Jane Doe to sit up enough to be able to drink comfortably.

Margaret hit the nurse call button to alert the nursing station that she was in need of assistance. Gently, she helped Jane Doe to lay down again.

“There you go,” Margaret said softly. “Now, can you tell me your name?”

Jane Doe opened her mouth to speak, but froze. She looked to Margaret and said hoarsely, “I don’t know.”

Another nurse appeared in the doorway, and Margaret turned to them. “Call  neurology, and have them send someone up. Jane Doe is awake.”

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Three weeks had passed, and there had been no word either from or about Elisa.

Matt had run himself into the ground. He was tired, having worked every waking hour that he could. He was running on the cat naps he was able to grab on the couch in the police lounge. He was running down every lead possible, and was still coming up with nothing.

He barely stopped to eat, and only then it was because his girlfriend, Pamela, would drop by to guilt him into it.

He’d followed up on so many bogus leads that he didn’t know what to do. Most of the people calling in with tips weren’t even describing someone who could even loosely resemble Elisa.

Tips were coming in for everything from a short, overweight older woman to a pale, skinny, blonde woman.

He had even gone to the morgue a few times to make sure that the “Jane Doe” bodies that had been found were not Elisa. Each time felt as if something had chipped away at a piece of himself. Going into that cold, sterile place, expecting that  _ this _ time he was going to have to identify the remains of his partner.

Matt laid his head on his desk. He was so tired, but he didn’t want to stop long enough to sleep. There were no signs, no messages, no ransom demands. 

The thing that kept Matt moving on it, was that there was also no body. He knew that, because he was in constant contact with morgues in both New York and New Jersey. He was also on a notification list for contact in several other states on the East Coast. If any bodies were found matching her description, they would contact him.

Elisa was just gone. It was as if she had simply disappeared off of the face of the earth.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Margaret and Jane became friends with the passing of time. 

Margaret had started out visiting Jane, feeling sorry that the injured woman had no one to contact. None of Jane’s memories had returned, so there were no friends or family to help her. Several of the nursing staff had adopted Jane, trying to keep her spirits up.

Jane had attached herself to Margaret, since she was the first person that had been there when she had opened her eyes. As the weeks passed, they both grew more comfortable around each other and a true friendship began to form. 

It was Sunday, Margaret’s graduation day. She had worked hard for years to get to this point, and had a whole life waiting for her outside of the training hospital and classes. 

Margaret stopped by Jane’s room, still dressed out in her cap and gown. She wanted to share the day with her new friend.

“Hey, lady,” She greeted.

In the three weeks that she had been there, Jane Doe still had no memory of who she was, what she was doing there or anything that had happened to her that left her with amnesia. She was still a little timid, unsure of her place in the world. There were so very few clues that they had found amongst her belongings. One small, beautiful ring with a blueish stone, a crumpled napkin that had been destroyed with a combination of blood and her pants being cut off in the emergency room and a handful of change.

No purse. No identification.

And, from the lack of people asking about anyone matching her appearance, no one was looking for her.

She was able to get up and around now, though. She was still pretty banged up, and still had a few months worth of physical therapy to go through to regain strength in her left arm, but she was on the mend. Jane had also started wearing a headscarf to cover the bald area that had needed to be shaved in order for the head wound to be stitched closed.

Jane Doe turned from the large window in her room, smiling at Margaret. “Look at you, all ready to get out of here.”

“I am officially a graduate,” Margaret said, flinging her arms wide in the brilliant blue cap and gown. “Not only that, but I start working at Mount Sinai in Manhattan on Monday!”

Elisa smiled, and gave the cheerful nurse a one armed hug. Margaret was the only person with whom she had made a connection with, and was going to be sorry to see her go.

“Hey,” Margaret exclaimed, pulling back to look at the other woman’s face. She was surprised to see tears welling up in Jane’s eyes. “What’s up?”

Jane swiped at her tears, and smiled. “It’s nothing. I’m just a little frustrated right now.”

Margaret gave her a sorrowful look. “Still nothing?”

Jane shook her head. “Nothing. It’s just a blank. That’s not the worst part, though,” She admitted. “They won't let me stay here forever, and I know that. But… I… “ Jane drifted off.

“Hmmm,” Margaret said, thoughtfully. “When are they going to release you?”

“Tomorrow morning,” Jane admitted.

“Do you have any idea of where you would like to go?” Margaret asked. At Jane’s withering look, Margaret hurried to clarify, “I’m talking about gut feelings. You were found in Weehawken, New Jersey. Does that feel familiar to you?”

Jane shook her head. “I don’t know. It doesn’t sound familiar, but not much does.” Jane looked out the window, thoughtfully. “Honestly, I feel like I need to go there,” Jane admitted, pointing out her window at the hazy outline of Manhattan Island. “A big city with tall buildings, near water.” She looked over her shoulder and gave Margaret a sheepish look. “I can’t tell you why, though.”

“It’s a start,” Margaret said. A thought occurred to her then. “When they release you, where would you go?”

Jane shrugged. “A homeless shelter or a halfway house, I guess. I don’t have any money, and can’t get a job without any identification.”

“Nope,” Margaret said, firmly. “Not going to happen. You want to go to Manhattan, and that’s where my new job is. I already have an apartment there. It’s a one bedroom, but I have a very comfortable couch. You can crash with me for as long as you need to. Then,” Margaret stressed, “I have a friend I want you to meet. She runs a bookstore, and it has a small apartment above it that she’s been using as extra storage. If both she and you are up for it, you could have a job and an apartment all your own. It will give you more time to rest and heal.”

Jane blinked a couple of times, cursing the fact that her eyes were filling with tears again. “Why would you do that? You don’t know me. Hell,  _ I  _ don’t know who I am. I have a description given to me by you all here, and it’s not showing the best picture. Bullet wounds, head wounds, cracked ribs… I mean, what if I am some psycho criminal?”

Margaret frowned at her. “What if you were an innocent bystander in a drive by shooting?” She fired back at her. “What if you are a kindergarten teacher? A choir director? Oooooh! What if you are a nun?”

Jane put the flat of her hand on the other woman’s forehead and shoved lightly. “You are really something, you know that?”

“Yeah,” Margaret said, linking her arm with Jane. “But you like me anyway.”

“True,” Jane said, smiling.

“Well,” Margaret said, walking to the small table beside Jane’s bed, “there is one thing we can take care of right now.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah,” Margaret said, opening the table’s drawer, and extracting the thick book from it. Grinning, she handed the heavy book to Jane. “Here.”

Jane looked down at the book in confusion. “The phone book?”

“Not just a phone book,” Margaret said, sitting on the bed with a small bounce. “Think of it as a book of choices.”

“Choices?” Jane asked, skeptically.

“Okay,” Margaret rolled her eyes. “Fine. Names. It is full of names.” Reaching in front of the confused woman, the nurse opened the book to illustrate her point. “Pick one.”

“Pick a name?” Jane asked, slowly. “Just pick one?”

Margaret sighed. “I can’t keep calling you ‘Jane Doe’. I just can’t. ‘Jane Doe’ is a name reserved for people who are alone and have no identity.” Margaret gave her new friend a look. “You’re not alone, because you have me. You have an identity, it’s just a little lost at the moment. In the meantime..” she gestured to the book again. “Pick one that sounds good.”

Jane sighed. “Okay, I will look.” She randomly turned to a page. “Faye?”

“Nah,” Margaret said with a head shake. “You don’t look like a Faye. That name just cries out ‘Elf or fairy’. Keep looking.” She encouraged.

Jane looked back at the page, and started reading off names. “Let’s see. Terry, Briony, Layla, Tamra, Laura, Angela…” Jane trailed off, a frown creasing her brow.

“What?” Margaret asked, concerned at the expression on her face. 

“It’s just… silly,” Jane said with a shake of her head. “Angela almost sounded familiar for a moment…”

“Maybe there’s a reason for it,” Margaret suggested. “Maybe that’s your real name.”

Jane shook her head. “I don’t think so, it just felt like something…” she gestured helplessly at her still-bandaged head. “Never mind.”

“Okay,” Margaret said, deciding not to press Jane to force a memory that may or not be there. 

“Why don’t you just pick one?” Jane asked Margaret. 

“Hmmm,” Margaret said, gently taking the book from her friend. “Let’s see, we have so many choices. “Darcy? No. Amelia? Nah. Zaira? Not a chance. Oh! How about Elizabeth?”

“Elizabeth,” Jane said, slowly, letting the name roll around in her head. “I kind of like it. I don’t know why, but it kind of feels… familiar, in a way.”

“Elizabeth it is, then,” Margaret said, closing the phone book with a loud thud. “Well, Elizabeth, What would you say about getting a day pass out of here to do some shopping?”

“Shopping?” The newly named Elizabeth blurted out. “You don’t need to spend your money on me!”

“Not  _ my _ money,” Margaret said with an impish grin. “People have been dropping off donations for you all day.”

“Sorry?” Elizabeth asked, slowly. “What…?”

“News of your situation has been all over the hospital here. Doctors, nurses, friends and friends-of-friends have been stopping by and leaving clothes and money to help you get started when you leave here.”

“Really?” Elizabeth asked, surprised. 

“Really, really,” Margaret said. “I found out about it when I was on my way up here a little bit ago. Judging by the amount of bags, I think you will be okay in the clothing department, but you will need things like shampoo, toothpaste, underwear and maybe some make up.”

Elizabeth ran a self conscious hand over her face. “I thought I didn’t look that bad anymore.”

“Well,” Margaret said, getting to her feet, “You  _ are _ looking better, but,” she held her hand down to her friend to help her to her feet, “a little cover up wouldn’t hurt. Besides, wouldn’t it be nice to get something that is  _ yours _ ?”

Elizabeth suddenly looked determined. “You know what?” She reached out and allowed Margaret’s help off the bed. “That sounds amazing.”


	20. Chapter 20

“What are we going to do, David?”

David Xanatos, multi-billionaire and owner of a handful of very successful business ventures, looked up from his paperwork. His wife, Fox, was leaning against the doorframe. 

David took a moment to admire her where she stood. She could still walk into a room and have every eye cutting toward her. Her red - orange hair, so similar to a fire’s flame, was drawn back and held by a gold clip at the nape of her neck. Her body was still slim and trim, if not just a little curvier after the birth of their son.

No one looking at her would guess that she was almost three months pregnant with their second child.

“David?” Fox asked, straightening up.

“Sorry,” David said, feeling like a schoolboy who had been caught ogling his teacher. “Do about what?” He asked in response to her question.

“About the Gargoyles,” Fox said softly. “I haven’t had any luck with my old contacts. You?”

“Nothing,” David said, tossing his silver pen down in disgust. “Absolutely nothing from either my legal and… ahem… my not so legal channels.”

Fox sighed, perching on the edge of his desk. “I can’t believe that she’s just gone. It has already been three weeks. We should have been able to find something by now.”

“I know,” David said. “I honestly am out of ideas.”

“Me, too.” Fox admitted in defeat. “The Elisa we have faced off with before would have fought tooth and nail to get back as soon as she possibly could.”

“Don’t tell me that you’re giving up on her,” David asked, sitting back in his oversized desk chair.

“I don’t know, David,” Fox said. “I don’t want to, but it’s hard having to tell the clan every night that there is no word. I think they’re losing hope, and it’s hard not to follow suit.”

“The only other thing I can think of, is hiring a herd of private investigators,” Fox said, shaking her head. “That doesn’t really seem plausible, since we really don’t have a starting point to get them started.”

“Already done, my dear,” David said. “I have hired a small army of private investigators, and they started at the warehouse in New Jersey and worked outward.”

Fox shook her head. “And, still nothing.”

“No,” David admitted. “Nothing from the point she left the bar. The only thing that places her at the warehouse is the communicator and the blood at the scene.”

Fox’s gaze went to the window, cursing the fact that the sun was going down. It would be another night where she would have to tell them that their friend was still missing.

Goliath’s pain was the hardest of all to see. He blamed himself, no matter that there was nothing he could have done differently.

Canmore had planned it all out so well. He had probably just been waiting for Elisa’s guard to be down when the clan was nowhere in sight.

“Hey,” David said, leaning forward to wrap an arm around her waist. “You need to be taking it easy, for this one’s sake, if not your own.”

Fox placed her hand on top of his where it had come to rest on her belly, lying protectively over their new child. “We are fine,” Fox said. “I just had another checkup with Dr. James this afternoon.”

David smiled, he couldn’t help himself. “That’s good, then.”

Fox leaned down and embraced her husband. “Yes, it is a good thing.”

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

David Xanatos sent his wife away to spend time with their son, Alexander. He offered to take the role of bad news delivery tonight, though he hated it almost as much as Fox did. 

Perhaps more so.

Goliath was deteriorating by the day, and not just physically. Mentally, the gargoyle clan leader was crumbling under his grief and guilt over Elisa’s disappearance.

David couldn’t blame him, really. The Gods only knew how David would react in a world without Fox.

He prayed he never had to find out.

The sound of stone cracking signalled the clan’s awakening for the evening.

With a deep breath, David stepped forward to greet them.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Elizabeth sat on the steps of Margaret’s apartment building on Luis Munoz Marin Boulevard  and took a deep breath of the evening air. It was Friday night and the last of the sun’s rays had faded from the sky. Elizabeth suddenly felt all of the stress of the day roll off of her.

“You know,” Margaret said, watching Elizabeth’s reactions. “You may not know your name, your address or your preferred brand of underwear, but we know one thing for sure.”

“Oh?” Elizabeth said, looking at her friend quizzically.

“You, my friend, are the world’s biggest night owl.”

Elizabeth laughed. “I can’t figure that one out, either. It’s just something about when the sun goes down. I just get this big rush of energy.”

“Hey, it doesn’t bother me at all,” Margaret admitted. “I’m going to be working the overnight shifts, so it will be nice to have someone here who has the same hours.”

“For a few days, anyway,” Elizabeth said excitedly.

“Yeah,” Margaret said, smiling. “Congratulations on nailing that job at the store, by the way.”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t have, without you.”

Margaret shrugged. “I’m just sorry that I didn’t think of it sooner.” 

It was true. Margaret’s mother had made friends with the bookstore’s owner, Sharon Owen, a few years before Margaret was born. Sharon had started out living in the apartment above the store, but over time, she had decided to move into a bigger place. The apartment above had been kept up in repair, in case Sharon ever knew someone who needed it, but it had spent most of the last few years as extra storage for the store.

Margaret had introduced Elizabeth to Sharon that afternoon. In a matter of minutes, Sharon had taken Elizabeth under her wing. Elizabeth had been escorted upstairs and shown the small, furnished space that would be her home as long as she worked at the store. Sharon would waive the first month’s rent so that Elizabeth could start saving up her money. 

Before they had left, Sharon had shoved a hundred dollars into Margaret’s hands with explicit instructions to use it on Elizabeth. She gave instructions to get Elizabeth a haircut to hide the jagged, shaved area from her stitches, clothes and groceries.

Sharon would get her sons over there in the next day or two, and the apartment would be ready in time for Elizabeth to start work on Monday. 

“Well,” Margaret said, getting to her feet. “There is one thing I would like to get done tonight.”

Elizabeth looked at her in surprise. “What’s that?”

Margaret held her hand down to help Elizabeth to her feet. Elizabeth took the hand, getting to her feet slowly, favoring her left side a little.

“We’re going to treat ourselves,” Margaret said. “We are two attractive women. It is Friday night, and we are starting a new place in our lives. This calls for,” Margaret’s eyes gleamed mischievously, “makeovers.”

“Huh?” Elizabeth asked, confused.

“Come on,” Margaret began dragging Elizabeth down the street. “One short cab ride, and we’ll be at the Hair Salon I saw on the way here this afternoon.”

Elizabeth laughed. “Alright, alright. I’ll pay you back.”

Margaret rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Let’s just  _ go _ .”

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

  
  


“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” Elizabeth said, running her hand through her newly cut hair. In order to blend the shaved area of her head in a way for it to not be as noticeable and grow in evenly, the hairdresser had given her a short pixie cut. Her long tresses had been cut to just below her ears.

“What?” Margaret asked, puzzled. “You look great.”

“It’s just that…” Elizabeth drifted off. The haircut bothered her, but she couldn’t explain why. “It just feels weird.”

Margaret felt bad, suddenly. Poor Elizabeth had no context for her own appearance. As far as Elizabeth knew, she had only seen her own reflection a few weeks ago.

“Maybe you are just so used to seeing the long hair,” Margaret said. 

“Yeah,” Elizabeth said, sounding and feeling unsure.

“Here,” Margaret said, trying to put Elizabeth back into a good mood. “Oh! A consignment store! Let’s duck in here, and see what we can find for you to wear to work in.”

Elizabeth nodded. “Just a few things, though.”

An hour later, and the women were flagging down a cab, loaded down with a couple of bags a piece.

“Ungh,” Elizabeth said, sinking gratefully into the cab’s seats. “You are a champion shopper.”

“What can I say?” Margaret said, shrugging. “I love me some sales.”

Her friend looked as tired as she felt… even if she wouldn’t admit it. Margaret’s own copper curls had been cut a great deal shorter than they had been. She had managed to hit some great sales and treated herself to a few skirts, a couple of dressy tops and a new pair of black heels.

Elizabeth had stretched the money that Margaret had shoved into her hands into three pairs of jeans, a pair of comfortable walking shoes and a surprising amount of plain colored tee shirts.

Elizabeth even managed to hold some money in reserve for groceries.

Margaret had given her a pitying look. “Okay. I have to ask. What’s with the jeans and tees?”

Elizabeth shrugged. “They’ll do for now, and they all match. Besides,” She added, running her hands over her thighs and over the soft cotton, “They’re comfortable.”

“Okay,” Margaret said. “But someday, I’m going to talk you into getting a sexy little dress for when we go out. There’s a fun little bar just down the street from the hospital where all of us nurses and doctors gather.”

Elizabeth made a face without thinking about it.

Margaret sat up and looked at the dark haired woman. “What? Did you remember something?”

“I don’t think I would call it “remembering” so much as just having a feeling. I thought about going out to a bar, and suddenly I don’t feel well.” Elizabeth responded, rubbing her hand across her stomach.

“Right,” Margaret said, nodding and serious. “You are a plain Jane... no pun intended… who prefers jeans to dresses, and you hate bars. See?” She smiled, “You’re learning more about yourself every day.”

“Yeah,” Elizabeth said with a forced smile. Turning, she watched the busy city pass by as the cab made its way back to Margaret’s apartment.

It was hard for her to explain the constant strain she was under. Everyone around her had a past. They knew where they belonged. 

Elizabeth had none of that. She felt overwhelmed just trying to order a meal somewhere, since she couldn’t remember what she liked to eat. She watched happy families and couples on the street, and wondered if there was anyone looking for her, or if she was as alone before as she was now.

Shaking her head, and trying to shake herself from her sour mood, she turned back to Margaret. “You know what we need to finish the night?”

Margaret groaned dramatically. She laid her head back on the seat and closed her eyes “What?”

“Ice cream,” Elizabeth said with a devilish gleam in her eyes.

Margaret’s eyes popped open, and she laughed. “Elizabeth, this is just another reason why I like you.” The cab came to a stop, and Margaret paid the driver. “Let’s get these bags upstairs, and we can go to that cute little place on the corner.”

“Deal,” Elizabeth said. 


	21. Chapter 21

**One Month Later**

As they had for many years, the Gargoyles rose with the setting of the sun. They still did their patrols, protected the city, but something was missing.

They were missing their friend.

It had been almost two months since Elisa’s disappearance, and with every passing hour, every night when they woke, and Elisa had still not been found, their hearts broke a little more. 

Brooklyn had been taking on more and more of the leadership of the clan. Not by choice, but because Goliath had been retreating from the rest of them a little more each night.

The clan, with the aid of the Xantos’, had been making preparations for a remembrance ceremony. It was an old Gargoyle tradition where a large bonfire was lit in the courtyard of the castle. 

The ceremony gave them a chance to grieve for their lost friend, yet express hope that she could yet make it back home.

Brooklyn brushed the remaining stone bits from his shoulders. Feeling the weight of what was to come, he flared his wings and glided down from the battlements to the courtyard below.

Broadway, Lexington and Hudson were already moving the thick pieces of wood that David Xanatos had gotten for them to the center of the yard. Brooklyn determinedly grabbed a beam and hauled it to the pile.

Goliath joined the group, halfheartedly stacking the wooden beams for the fire.

Angela came from her perch, carrying Bronx. She still looked confused at what the clan was doing, and Brooklyn was reminded just how different their upbringings had been. Angela had been raised by humans, and had missed out on a great many Gargoyle traditions. 

After the wood had been stacked, Hudson took his place as the eldest in the clan, at the Northernmost place around the bonfire. He had grabbed one of the torches in the courtyard, that were mostly used for decorative purposes, and held the torch to the dry wood.

There was a moment of hesitation before the greedy flames began devouring the wood.

Hudson replaced the torch into its wall sconce, before returning to his place.

“We light this fire,” He began in a solemn voice, “To remember those who have gone before us, and as a beacon of light to aid our missing friend back to the shelter of the clan.”

“I don’t like this,” Angela suddenly blurted out. She looked from face to face of her clan mates. “There is still a chance that Elisa is alright.” 

“Angela,” Broadway said quietly, “We all want to believe that, but…it’s been months now. If Elisa were…all right… she would have contacted us somehow by now.”

Angela felt her eyes well up, and nodded her head. “Yeah…she would.”

Hudson patted her shoulder, “Lass, we aren’t sayin’ that we give up hope…But we have to accept what may be.”

“Then  _ why _ ?” Angela burst out. “Why have this ceremony if we still have hope?”

Brooklyn jumped in, “A Remembrance Ceremony is to comfort…It’s for us to keep someone in our memories.  The flames are lit and kept burning for seven days. We do this to honor the fallen or missing clan members, in the hope that the firelight will help guide the missing back home... and the dead on to the world beyond this one.”

Goliath lowered his head and snarled.

“Now, lad,” Hudson said softly, reaching to place a calming hand on Goliath’s shoulder.

Goliath violently shook his mentor’s hand from his shoulder. “No. Elisa’s still alive. I know she is.” He glared at the clan before him, “I’ll have no part in this.”

With that, he stormed out of the courtyard.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Goliath needed some time to himself. He’d somehow convinced himself that the other clan members had been keeping a measure of hope that Elisa was alive and trying to find a way back to them…but with them coming out with the proposal of holding a Remembrance Ceremony, it pointed out to him what he hadn’t wanted to face.

They were starting to lose hope.

Goliath knew that holding on to hope this long was foolish, but he couldn’t seem to accept the fact that Elisa was never coming home. 

**_What am I to do, Elisa?_ ** He asked himself.  **_What would you want me to do?_ **

__ A memory of a night almost two years before crept forward in his mind.

He started to reject the images, but thinking better of it, he finally allowed the memory to come…

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

**Two Years Ago**

**After the events of the Hunter’s Moon**

Elisa was lying on the bed, curled against Goliath’s side. Both were fully dressed, being that the emotional drain of the day had left both content to just hold each other through what was left of the night.

“Goliath?”

Goliath frowned at the top of Elisa’s head. She’d been through much this day, with her kidnapping by Jon Canmore, and being used as bait so that jon Canmore could catch the Gargoyles. Elisa had to be exhausted.

In fact, he half expected her to be asleep by now.

“Goliath?” Elisa tried again.

“Yes?”

“I have a question for you.”

“Alright,” Goliath said quietly, brushing a hand over her hair, “Ask.”

“What would you do…if something were to happen to me?”

Goliath frowned. He didn’t even want to think about that possibility.

Elisa felt his hand still on her hair, and hurried to explain, “I was just thinking about what you had said earlier. When you said that you would always catch me, but seemed to have so much guilt hanging on you when you couldn’t and thought I was dead.”

Goliath frowned at her, silently trying to discourage her from continuing the direction in which the conversation was going.

What I mean is,” Elisa said, noticing the look. She knew what Goliath was trying to do, but she was determined to get him to understand, “You went a little crazy, Big Guy. I want to make sure that you’re not going to do something stupid.”

“I have no wish to continue this conversation.”

“Goliath…”

“No.”

“O.K.” Elisa sighed. “I’ll let it drop…for now…but first, I want you to promise me something.”

“If it will put your mind at ease,” Goliath finally conceded, “Then ask.”

Elisa took a deep breath, and sat up in bed so that she could look into Goliath’s eyes when she made her request. “If something happens to me, I want you to remain as a leader to the clan and continue protecting the city for me.” Elisa placed a hand on his arm, “I just want to know that if something ever happens to me, that you’ll go on with your life.”

Goliath looked into her eyes. “Why do you ask this?”

Elisa took a moment to put her thoughts together. “I guess it’s because I’ve seen too many people simply shut down after a loved one dies. Even some whose close family members, spouses or friends remain missing for a long period of time just…I don’t know how to describe it.”

Goliath took all of what she’d said in, and put a hand gently to the side of her face. “This means a lot to you, doesn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, I will agree,” Goliath gathered her into his arms, “But I will never have a need to fulfill that promise.”

Elisa smiled sadly at him, “Why do you say that?”

“Because,” Goliath put a hand to the back of her head, and gently forced her to lay her head down on his chest. “I will always be around to protect you from harm.”

Elisa smiled softly. “I know, Big Guy.”

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

True to her word, she’d never brought the subject up again.

Goliath didn’t know why he hadn’t remembered his promise until now…

With the happenings of the night Elisa’s kidnapping had been discovered …and what he had seen and heard at the crime scene…he’d fallen apart. Goliath had been beating himself up with the guilt he’d felt over having not being able to protect his mate. The grief had been so much; it had seemingly brought his life to a screeching halt.

And, he realized now with another pang of guilt, he hadn’t kept the promise he’d made to Elisa on that night so seemingly long ago.

Turning, Goliath returned to the silent group still gathered in the courtyard.

Goliath walked towards Hudson and placed a hand on the old warrior’s shoulder in a gesture of apology. His voice was gruff as he said, “I’m sorry, old friend.”

“Nae, lad,” Hudson said, sounding older and more tired than Goliath could remember. “‘Tis I who should apologize.”

“No.” Goliath said it with such conviction, Hudson blinked. “I’ve been avoiding having to face the fact that Elisa may not be coming home. If she were alive,” Goliath cleared his throat, “If she were still alive, she would have found her way back to us or contacted us in some way.”

Hudson remained silent. He knew what it was to lose your mate, and wished there were a way to keep Goliath from having to go through this.

“I didnae mean that I…or any of us…have given up hope tha’ the lass is alive…” Hudson said. It was true, and it was hurting the whole clan to even think the lass was dead.

A short time later, with the help of the Xanatos family, a large bonfire had been set up and lit in the large stone floored courtyard.

Hudson had given the traditional ceremonial speech and the clan members had shared their favored memories of Elisa. 

One by one, the clan slowly drifted off. 

It was a gargoyle tradition that after this particular ceremony, the one gargoyle closest to the one remembered was to watch over the flame and keep it burning until sunrise. In their time, the humans would have kept the fire burning all day.

Rather than burdening the humans in residence with this task, the clan decided to let the flames go out on their own during the day. It would be re-lit the next night, and again for the next six nights.

And so, Goliath stayed behind on the first night, trapped in memories of his own.

When the sun rose that morning, it caught the mighty gargoyle leader in a kneeling pose with his head bowed as if in prayer.

That was how Fox and David Xanatos found him.

“Oh, David,” Fox said sadly, “Isn’t there anything we can do for them?”

“The only thing I can think of,” Xanatos said, leaning down to grab another piece of wood, “Is to keep this fire going for them.”

Fox nodded and grabbed a piece of wood herself to keep the remembrance fire burning throughout the day for them.


	22. Chapter 22

One week later, David Xanatos was sitting at his desk when he was interrupted by his personal assistant, Owen Burnett.

“Sir,” He began in his usual monotone, “There appears to be a problem.”

Xanatos leaned back in his chair. He had been dealing with purchase orders and earning projections. 

He welcomed the interruption.

“What is the problem?”

“One of your private investigators called a few minutes ago,” Owen reported.

Xanatos suddenly sat upright. “Yes?”

“It seems that there has been a mix up.” Owen said, pulling a sheet of paper from his ever handy file folder.

“What kind of ‘mix up’?” David asked, frustrated, holding a hand out for the paper. He turned the paper over, and stared in disbelief.

He was thankful that Goliath was asleep for the day. David felt like putting his fist through a wall in frustration…

He was pretty sure that Goliath would tear the stone walls down around them.

David laid the paper down on the desk in front of him. “Is this a joke?”

“I’m afraid not,” Owen said. “This is a copy of the missing persons report that had been filed by the 23rd precinct that one of your investigators had. I realized that there was a mistake when he mentioned that he was following a tall blonde woman. As far as I can tell, there have been several different versions of the missing persons report that have gone out.”

“Get me Matt Bluestone on the phone,” David snapped out. “Then get Fox.”

Owen was out the door, phone already in hand.

David picked up the paper, gazing at the flyer that announced that Elisa Maza was missing… Then he looked at the petite, blond haired green eyes female that had been in the picture slot of the flyer. Going back to the personal background information, David could only shake his head. Very little of the information on there was correct.

That was a pretty damn big mess up. The sheer amount of incorrect information on the sheet could only point at a deliberate act of sabotage.

Someone was trying damn hard to make sure that Elisa wasn’t found.

“David,” Fox said, hurrying into the room. “What’s going on? Owen just came and got me, saying something was wrong.”

“Mr Xanatos,” Owens’s voice emitted from the phone on the desk. “Matt Bluestone is on line one.”

David pushed the button that would allow the call to be taken via speakerphone. “Matt,” David answered, motioning Fox to come closer. “I just found out some news having to do with Detective Maza.” David picked up the missing poster and handed it to Fox. He watched her eyes get bigger, and saw the moment that she looked at the photograph. Fox’s eyes were practically spitting fire when her gaze met her husband’s eyes over the top of the paper. 

“There’s a problem, and I think you need to come and take a look.” David said.

“I’ll be right there,” Matt said.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

  
  


Matt stormed into the precinct house an hour later. 

To say that he was angry would have been an understatement. He was so well beyond pissed off, he had no words.

He raised a fist and banged on the Captain’s office door.

“Officer Bluestone,” Captain Chavez greeted him angrily as she opened the door. “I sincerely hope that you have a good reason for pounding on my door like this.”

Matt held up the copy of the doctored missing person report so that Maria could see it. “There’s a problem.”

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Raquel Walker, the clerk on record for the handling of the distribution of the missing persons report for Elisa's case, was not in her office when the group got there. 

Maria Chavez led the charge, with Matt Bluestone following right behind her. A pair of arresting officers following closely behind them.

They reached the office belonging to the file clerk, only to find the door locked.

The door next to it was open, however, and Matt took the opportunity to find out what he could about the woman who had handled… and ultimately tampered with… Elisa’s paperwork.

The young man who was in the next office, Lou Spirelli, paused with his homemade sandwich inches from his mouth. Judging by the expression on the red headed detective’s face, whatever was happening was not going to wait until he had his lunch.

“I have questions,” Detective Bluestone said, habitually flashing his badge.

Lou nodded, putting the sandwich back in the tupperware container. “Yes, sir. What can I…”

Matt cut him off, nodding his head to indicate the office next door. “Is Ms Walker here today?” 

Lou frowned. “Yes, but I believe she just left for her lunch hour.”

“Do you have keys to her office?” Matt demanded.

“No,” Lou said, slowly. “But our department head, John Marks, does.”

Maria filled the doorway, behind the Detective, and Lou snapped to attention. He knew this woman, and respected all that she had done for everyone who had the opportunity to work within this station house. She was a firm, but fair minded individual. If she was this upset, something very bad had happened.

“I will call Mr. Marks right now.” Lou hurried to reassure the officers, reaching to pick up the phone.

Within minutes, Mr. John Marks, a former military man in his mid-50’s that still sported the high and tight haircut, was greeting the officers, keys in hand. He opened the door, and asked if anything else was needed.

“Stay here,” Matt said briskly. “We may still need you.”

“I’ll be right out in the hallway,” Marks replied before retreating to the rapidly filling hallway. News had carried fast, and the word had come down that there was something important enough for the Captain, herself, to storm the filing offices. Most of the officers hadn’t even known that there **_were_** filing offices.

Captain Chavez put her hands on her hips and looked around the messy workspace. “It might be a little hard to prove that she did it on purpose, judging by the state of this office. It may have been a mistake, plain and simple.”

“It wasn’t a mistake,” Matt ground out. “Mixing up a picture is big enough, but the picture  _ and _ the personal information? Hell, even the station’s phone number on this thing for the tip line is wrong. I have contacted several different stations and hospitals inquiring about the information that they received. There have been several versions of these updates faxed everywhere,” Matt ground out. “How much do you want to bet that every one of them has been tampered with?”

There was a sudden commotion in the hallway, pulling the officer’s attention to the open doorway.

“What is going on here?” a raised woman’s voice was saying. “Why is someone in my office?”

“Ms. Walker,” Her boss greeted outside. “Glad you could join us. You are needed inside to answer a few questions.”

Matt got to the door in time to see the clerk turn and try to run. Three officers grabbed her, and wrestled the woman to the ground. She went down, but not without a fight.

Matt could see that she was more frightened than anything, but enough time had been wasted that he couldn’t allow himself to soften his attitude.

“Cuff her, and take her to an interrogation room,” Captain Chaves snarled. “She talks to no one until we get there to question her.”

The officers who had finally gotten her on the ground cuffed her wrists behind her. Together, they got the woman to her feet and escorted her down the hall and away from the offices.

“Captain,” Officer Stark called out. “Here’s her bag.”

Captain Chavez reached out to take the oversized messenger bag from the officer. She tossed the bag to another female officer. “Go through that, will you?”

“Yes, ma’am,” The officer said, “What am I looking for?”

“Anything pertaining to the disappearance and whereabouts of Detective Maza,” Captain Chavez said, somberly.

The female officer’s eyes went wide, and hurried to take the bag away for inspection.

“Damn it!” Matt shouted in frustration. “This drawer is locked.”

Mr. Marks appeared in the doorway once more. “I am sorry, detective, but I don’t have the keys to the personal lockers or drawers.”

“Screw it,” Matt snarled. “Someone find me a locksmith.”

“How about a crowbar?” Shouted an officer from the hallway. “I think I saw one in the maintenance closet.”

“Bring it,” Maria said. She’d been willing to give the clerk the benefit of the doubt until they’d had a chance to question her, but then she’d tried to run. Nothing hinted at guilt so much as running from questioning.

Once more, word had spread quickly that the commotion had something to do with Elisa. Suddenly, every available officer was outside in the hallway, offering their services in the search.

“Pass this to the Captain,” came a voice from down the hall, and there was a shifting of bodies as they passed the crowbar into the room.

Matt snatched the crowbar and jammed it into the drawer, beside the lock. Anger gave him enough added strength that the lock snapped easily. Matt dropped the crowbar, and dragged the drawer open.

There was no need to search farther. There, in the bottom drawer, were stacks of Elisa’s pictures, missing posters and the notices that were supposedly sent to the other precincts and hospitals in the area.

Reaching in, Matt brought the files out to show his captain. 

Angry mutters started coming from the officers in the hallway who were witnessing the atrocity that had been done to one of their fellow officers.

“Let’s go talk to this woman,” Captain said, grabbing the files out of Matt’s hand.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Raquel was hunched over the dented steel table in the interrogation room. They had moved her restraints to the front, but that was the only concession that they gave her. No one would talk to her, on the Captain’s orders.

Raquel was sunk, and she knew it. Someone had tracked down where the “mistakes” had come from.

Raquel sighed, and laid her forehead on her arms. She wasn’t even allowed to make a phone call yet, so she couldn’t call the Quarrymen group for help.

She’d been alone for almost an hour before a woman in a skirt suit and a tall red haired man came in the room. Neither one looked happy with her.

The man flung the stack of folders that had been locked away in her bottom drawer onto the table in front of her.

“We need to know everything about these,” the woman said. 

“I want to call a lawyer,” Raquel said, stubbornly. 

“Calling for a lawyer,” the man sneered. “How original.”

“Bluestone,” The woman barked at him. 

“No,” Matt said to the woman. “Too much time has been lost.” Matt turned to the table and roughly sorted through some of the papers there. He found one with Elisa’s picture on it, and pushed it in front of Raquel. “This is Elisa Maza,” He said between his gritted teeth. “She is a detective with the NYPD. She had arrested a man who had escaped from prison, and disappeared without a trace soon after.”

Raquel’s surprised eyes met his. “She’s a detective?”

Matt nodded. “She’s my partner.”

Raquel shook her head frantically. “No, I was told that you would lie to me to find her.”

“You’d better have a damn good lawyer, Miss Walker,” Matt snarled. “She’s already been missing for almost two months. She has friends and family who miss her, and want to find her. You helped hide her for whatever reason, which makes you an accessory. Accessory to kidnapping is a federal offense. That’s prison time. Call it a hunch,” he sneered at her, “But I am guessing that someone helped you with this. What I want to know is why you did this, and if you worked alone, or someone made you do it.”

Raquel looked from the man to the woman. “She’s really a detective? She’s not an abuse victim trying to hide?”

Maria gave the woman a look so cold that Raquel swore that her blood was about to freeze in her veins. “Even if that  _ had _ been the case,” Maria said, disgust dripping from every syllable, “It was not your job to do anything but file the reports and fax them out to other people who could have helped her. Now, Elisa is still out there somewhere, and whoever took her already has seven weeks’ head start on hiding from us.”

Raquel suddenly couldn’t meet the eyes of anyone in the room. “I’ll tell you,” She said quietly. “I’ll tell you everything.”


	23. Chapter 23

“The Quarrymen are a pretty nomadic group,” Officer Madison said, sitting down roughly in a chair in the Captain’s office. “They never meet somewhere two times in a row.” Detective Madison was a tiny woman, standing just over 5’ 4” and looking like a strong breeze could knock her over. With her straight, dirty blonde hair and baby face, she looked extremely innocent and young… two things that helped her to be one of the best undercover agents that the precinct had. 

No one expected the fresh-faced blonde “girl” who looked like a sorority girl from the movies of being an undercover cop. 

After the gunfire at the rally, a few undercover officers were sent to try to make their way inside the organization. Only Officer Madison had made it in, the only detective in any precinct to do so, but she wasn’t a “trusted member” yet. She didn’t have access to a lot of information that would help to keep tabs on them. 

“I can request a meeting with an “elder” member,” She told her captain and fellow detective, “But I honestly don’t know where they hole up between meetings. Especially that Marcus,” She sneered. “He’s a real winner. He’s charismatic and gives good speeches, but so did Hitler. There’s more than a hint of crazy there.”

“Request a meeting,” Captain Chavez said. “Tell them that you “heard” that Raquel has been arrested, and you want to help.”

Madison nodded. “I can do it now, if you don’t mind waiting so that I can get to my personal computer so that they can’t trace it back to any of the precinct computers. I have a general email address for contact purposes, and it usually takes an hour or so to hear back from them.”

Matt growled in frustration.

“I know, Bluestone,” Madison said sympathetically. “If my partner went missing like Elisa did, and this happened, I’d be tearing people apart with my bare hands. I will let you know the moment I hear back from them.”

Matt nodded. “Do it. I’ll wait here until then.”

Madison nodded her head. She left the office to retrieve her laptop computer from her car outside. Within five minutes, she was back. 

Madison quickly typed up the email, careful to sound appropriately worried over her “friend” Raquel and her plight. Once it was sent, the only thing left to do was to wait for a response.

Madison left to get them all coffee. The good stuff from the small coffee shop across the street, because she didn’t trust the tar-like substance that most officers made to drink there at the station.

It was going to be a long day, and none of them had actually slept yet.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

“It’s done,” Captain Chavez said, hanging up the phone a short while later. “Raquel Walker is being held without bail as an accomplice to kidnapping, assault on an officer during her arrest and other charges, pending an investigation. Because of the ties to a possible conspiracy, only known non-Quarrymen are going to be allowed even  **_near_ ** her to represent her in court.”

“They’re everywhere,” Matt grumbled. “How are we going to manage that?”

“Officer Madison will be personally overseeing that one,” the Captain assured him. “She will pose as a “concerned friend” in the front waiting area. If she even  _ thinks _ someone looks familiar from the Quarrymen meetings, they’re out of there.”

“Well, we’ve got news, too,” Matt said. “Madison just got a phone call from one of the Quarrymen elders. Someone named Caine. Nathan Caine. He has asked to meet up around 5:00, the time he thinks that Madison gets off of work, at the Thai place a few blocks down on 99th.”

“Let’s go,” Maria said, grabbing her coat from the antique wooden coat stand. “Grab a couple of our undercover guys and tell them to head over there now. Stagger their arrival times and spread out.” She told Matt. “I will head over there now, and grab a table. Join me when you can, and let the officers know that they need to be prepared to bring someone in for questioning.”

“On it, boss,” Matt said.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

3:30 p.m.

A to Z Bookstore

  
  


Elizabeth had been working at ‘A to Z Books’ for a few weeks now, and finally gotten the hang of things. The bookstore handled some new books, mostly by local authors, but mostly dealt in used and rare books. Sharon, the owner, was an amazing woman who definitely had a passion for what she did. There were quite a few loyal customers who knew that they could come in, ask her anything, and Sharon would know the answer.

The bookstore itself was positioned in an old brick building, with a pair of large glass windows in the front. There were several oversized armchairs strategically placed around the store, inviting people to come in and sit a while.

Elizabeth was a bit of an oddity for the regular customers. The amnesia angle proved to be too much for some people to resist. Well meaning people were constantly stopping in to ask how she was doing, if she had remembered anything else, if she needed anything.

Elizabeth spent her days organizing the incoming books, and dusting off the numerous old tomes in the back of the store. A week after she had started there, Sharon had asked her to take over the children’s story hour, and Elizabeth would sit and read to a small crowd of children five days a week.

She loved that time, especially. Looking at all those happy, bright faces of all ages, made her feel content.

Today’s book was “The Runaway Bunny”.

Elizabeth looked at the clock, and realized that the kids would start showing up in about twenty minutes now that school was out. Elizabeth finished putting her armload of books in their proper places, and made her way to the front of the store, and the large red velvet chair that was reserved for the “story lady”.

Elizabeth looked out the window, and noticed a situation about to start. A group of older girls, roughly middle school age, were gathered around a smaller girl. While Elizabeth couldn’t hear what they were saying, she could hazard a guess that it was nothing good. Elizabeth saw the younger girl slouch in defense, and Elizabeth sprung into action.

Opening the door, Elizabeth stepped outside. “You girls need to find something else to do.”

“What do you care?” One of the girls said.

“For one, it doesn’t make you big and bad, picking on a younger person,” Elizabeth said, crossing her arms, and doing her best to look imposing. “Second, you’re loitering in front of a business, and I have it within my rights to call the police, who will then contact your parents. Do you really want to deal with that?”

The girls grumbled, but moved on to spread some discontent elsewhere.

“Are you okay?” Elizabeth asked the younger girl.

She nodded her head, and looked up into Elizabeth’s face. For a moment, just a fraction of a second, Elizabeth felt as if she had seen this girl before. But then the moment passed, and Elizabeth’s mind was as blank as ever.

Similar flashes had happened, few and far between, but nothing significant had ever ‘stuck” in her mind. She chalked this up to another random blip in the brain.

This little girl was small, with a mop of wavy brown hair. She was cute, but dirty. Elizabeth thought that the girl might be homeless, and felt horrible leaving her out on the street.

“Come on,” Elizabeth said, holding out a hand to the young girl. “I’m about to start reading a really fun book. Come on in and sit a while.”

The little girl was watching Elizabeth’s face closely.

Elizabeth frowned a little, concerned. “Hey, are you okay?” Elizabeth knelt down to look the little girl in the eye.

The girl nodded, still watching Elizabeth’s face closely.

“What’s your name, sweetie?” Elizabeth asked softly.

“Katie,” the girl whispered.

Elizabeth sighed, running a hand over the girl’s hair, smoothing the wild tangles down. “Are you hungry, Katie?”

The little girl nodded.

Elizabeth smiled. “I haven’t had lunch yet, and I have about fifteen minutes to spare. Care to join me?”

The girl smiled, “Yes, please.”

“Okay,” Elizabeth held her hand out once more, and led the little girl into the store. 

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

5:00 p.m.

The Labyrinth

Katie made her way back to the Labyrinth, navigating the tunnels from memory. 

She was happy to have some food in her tummy, and having spent some time with the nice lady who read her the story about the rabbits. 

Her mommy had been drinking again, which was against the rules of the Labyrinth, and Katie was afraid that they would be asked to leave again. It was starting to get cold up on the streets, and she much preferred it down here with the others.

Katie came around the corner, into the main central area. When she had gone up to the street level, her mom had finally gone to sleep. If she was lucky, her mom would still be asleep, and never know that Katie had left at all.

Katie heard her mother’s voice before she could see her, and Katie knew that there would be no warm, comfy cot tonight. Talon was very firm about the rules in the Labyrinth: No weapons, no drugs and no alcohol. 

Katie sighed, and sank against the wall. 

“What’s going on?” Talon called, swooping down from the upper levels.

Katie wrapped her arms around herself, trying to make herself small and unnoticed. 

Claw followed behind Talon, and Maggie was not far behind.

Claw, a cat-man like Talon, looked like the tigers that Katie had seen in books. He was soft, furred and kind, even if he couldn’t talk.

Maggie was the nicest one, and didn’t seem as scary. She spent a lot of time with the children of the Labyrinth, and Katie always felt safe when Maggie was around.

The voices grew louder, and more angry. Her mother’s voice rose in a high pitched defensive tone. “You can’t kick me out,” she snarled at Talon and Claw, “I’ve got a kid. You gonna kick a kid out on the streets?”

“No,” Talon said. “Your daughter is welcome to stay. You can return once you are clean again.”

“You can’t take a kid from her mama!” Katie’s mother slurred. Reaching out, she swiped out clumsily at the two men before her.

In a move straight from the police training, Talon caught her arm, and twisted it behind her.

Katie whimpered.

Maggie’s head whipped around, and she spotted the small child. Compassion filling her, Maggie walked over to try to distract the little girl from what was going on.

“Hey, Katie,” She whispered. “Can you come with me? I think I have some hot cocoa in the kitchen, and we can let everyone else calm down out here.”

Katie nodded, tears filling her eyes, and held her arms out to Maggie. 

Maggie, sympathy for the small girl making her chest feel tight, scooped the human child into her arms. Quickly, Maggie removed the girl from the potential violent situation. Swiftly moving through the corridors, Maggie took the child into the large kitchen area that had once been a part of the underground laboratories that Talon, Claw and herself had slowly taken over to create a safe haven for the homeless.

She set Katie down, and efficiently hunted up the mugs and the packets of cocoa. While she was heating up the water, Maggie kept one eye on the little girl. Katie was a sweetheart, but was a bit of a Houdini. That little girl could navigate and disappear into the shadows better than even Talon could do.

Katie was currently examining the large cork board that held some personal photos of Maggie’s. 

Maggie was the main person who did the cooking, most of the time, and she had done what she could to make the space more livable. One of the things was hanging photographs of Talon’s family and hers from Ohio.

Swirling the cocoa with a spoon, she carried the mugs over to join Katie. 

“Here you go,” Maggie said, handing the mug to the child. 

“Who are they?” Katie asked, looking at all of the pictures.

“Hmm,” Maggie said, thoughtfully. “Well, these are pictures of my family,” Maggie said, pointing out several pictures. “And these are of Talon’s family.”

Katie blew lightly into the mug, to cool off the steaming hot drink. “Maggie? Can I have marshmallows?”

“Sure,” Maggie said, heading back to the cabinets. 

“Maggie?”

“Yes?” Maggie answered absently, opening the cabinets searching for the marshmallows. She was used to having the small child shoot rapid fire questions at her. 

“Why did she cut her hair?” Katie asked, pointing to a picture of Talon with his family. “I like it better long.”

Maggie glanced at the picture the girl was pointing at. “Oh, Elisa would never cut her hair,” Maggie said, heading 

“Oh,” Katie said, softly. 

Maggie paused with the mug halfway to her mouth, what she’d just said just hitting her. Shocked, she dropped her mug, letting it fall unheeded to the ground where it shattered. She hurried forward, and took the hot drink out of the small girl’s hands. 

“Katie,” Maggie said, speaking softly so as not to scare her. Maggie reached up and took off a picture that had Talon and Elisa on it. “Have you seen this lady?” 

Katie nodded, eyes wide and worried. “I think so.” 

“It’s okay, sweetie,” Maggie said softly, “I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. This,” Maggie pointed at her friend in the photograph, “is Talon’s sister. She got hurt a while ago, and we haven’t been able to find her to help her.”

Katie nodded again, she was trying to follow the conversation, but she was getting more and more worried that she had done or said something wrong.

“Where did you see her, honey?” Maggie asked insistently.

“I wasn’t supposed to go outside,” Katie wailed. “Mama’s going to be mad if she finds out.”

Maggie shook her head. “I won’t tell her, I swear. Can you tell me where Elisa is?”

“At the store,” Katie mumbled, not looking Maggie in the eyes, “with the books.”

Maggie forced herself to take a deep breath. Pushing this little girl when she was upset wouldn’t really help anyone, but she was so anxious to get answers.

“I’m sorry, honey,” Maggie said, running her taloned hand over her curly top. “Here,” She handed Katie her mug of cocoa back. “Let’s go find those marshmallows.”

Maggie picked the girl up, and placed her on the counter with her mug. She found the marshmallows, and put a small handful in Katie’s mug. While the child finished her treat, Maggie hurried to clean up the ceramic shards from her own mug when she had dropped it.

Once Katie was done, Maggie took her by the hand and offered to take her back to the small group of individual rooms that were reserved for the Labyrinth clan and anyone who was too sick or injured to stay with the rest of the homeless population. There was a private bathroom back there, and Maggie had some bubble bath that Elisa had given her the year before for Christmas.

Maggie ran her a bath, and read a few short stories to the girl as she played.

Once the bath was done, Maggie wrapped the girl in a warm, fluffy towel, and gave the little girl one of her own favorite shirts to sleep in. Maggie tucked the little girl into a warm cot in the corner of Her and Talon’s room. 

She wished the girl goodnight, and closed the door behind her. 

She stayed outside of the room for a while, just long enough to ensure that Katie was asleep before she went to find Talon. 

The tricky part was getting Talon to be patient long enough for Katie to calm down. 

In the meantime, there was one person she could call…

After three rings, the call went to voicemail. “Matt,” Maggie said, quickly, to the machine. “You’re not going to believe this, but we may have some information on Elisa…”


	24. Chapter 24

“That’s them,” Madison said, spotting the two men in suits that entered the crowded restaurant. They were still scanning, looking for her, so she took the opportunity to give her fellow officers a heads up. She spoke quietly, so that only the hidden surveillance would hear her, holding up her coffee cup and pretending to take a drink to hide her moving lips. It wouldn’t do to let them see her talking to herself. “That is Kerry, one of the “elders” and the one on the left is Marcus. Marcus is the new leader, and wasn’t supposed to be coming tonight, so you guys are in for a treat.”

Matt and Maria were sitting at a two seater round table near the back of the restaurant. “Awesome,” Matt said, “Get what you can out of him, and we’ll grab him when we can get enough on him.”

“Just don’t forget to arrest me, too.” Madison reminded them. “Appearances, and all that if I am needed to stay in this wacko group.”

“Gotcha,” Matt replied. 

Maria and Matt continued to “eat”. Basically, they were pushing food around on their plate and holding a fake conversation. Madison spun a good tale, claiming that she had become friends with Raquel Waker. Madison and Raquel had gotten together for lunch, and they were just saying goodbye at the police station when Raquel had been arrested. 

Madison had given them a very vague accounting of what had happened at the station. How Raquel had been accused of the falsifying of reports and mixing up of some paperwork.

“She’s in some real trouble,” Madison said. 

“We had not heard about that,” Marcus said, smoothly. “I will get a hold of one of our loyal lawyer members, and have them reach out to her. It is the least we could do, after all.”

“What was she doing?” Madison asked, all wide eyed innocence. “Maybe I can help.”

“As it turns out, that will not be necessary,” Marcus said, smiling in pure evil delight. “The woman that we were trying to keep hidden for a time was a known sympathizer of the monsters. There was an… unfortunate accident, however, and it turns out that all of the effort that Ms Walker had put forth was ultimately not needed.”

Madison frowned at the pair of men in front of her. “What do you mean, ‘not needed’?”

“Detective Maza is no longer a concern to the organization,” Kerry said, smoothly. 

Madison forced her face to smooth out, and once again the face of a woman who had no cares in the world. “Well, that’s a relief,” She said. 

“What was so urgent that you felt the need to call us out,” Kelley asked, suspiciously. 

“Poor Raquel only had one phone call,” Madison pointed out. “She said that she’d left the organization’s information in her purse, and the police had taken it so she couldn’t call you directly. She asked me to do it, and let you all know that she needed your help.”

“Well, you have fulfilled your promise,” Marcus said, getting to his feet.

Kerry got to his feet as well. “We would like to thank you for all that you have done, Miss Madison. We will remember your assistance in this matter.”

Madison got to her feet, and shook their hands. “Thank you both for coming and agreeing to meet with me so quickly.”

“Excuse me,” Matt’s voice sounded behind the two men’s backs. 

The two men turned, and were greeted by a wall of officers. Some were undercover, some were in full uniform. 

All of them were very pissed off.

“Mr. Marcus,” Matt said, looking from one ot the other, “Mr. Kerry, you are both under arrest.”

“For what, may I ask?” Kerry asked.

“Let’s see. How about we start with assault on an officer, conspiracy to commit murder, kidnapping,” Matt slapped a pair of cuffs on Marcus, while another officer took care of Kerry. He sent Captain Chavez a sarcastic questioning look, “Aren’t some of those federal offenses?”

“Among other charges that will be discussed later,” Maria said. “And you,” She said, slapping a pair of handcuffs on Madison to keep up the charade, “I don’t know who you are, but you’re coming in as well.”

Madison put up some protests for show, managed to call up a few tears and walked with the men out to the waiting police vehicles. She would be released later, as soon as she was out of sight of the two men, but for now, she was “under arrest” and on her way to the station with the others.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

  
  


Matt and Maria climbed back into Matt’s car, and they rode in silence back to the station. Together, they walked into Maria’s office and Matt shut the door behind him. 

Maria walked to her desk, placed her hands palm down on the surface and bent her head. Matt collapsed in one of the chairs, unsure what to do or say. He had still been trying desperately to keep hope that Elisa was still out there somewhere, alive. From the sound of it, however, the men from the Quarrymen organization knew something about her.

“Detective Maza is no longer a concern,” they had said.

They hadn’t come out and said that she was dead, but they might as well have.

“I have to call Peter,” Maria said, softly. “I haven’t had a chance to call him today, since Ms Walker’s destructive cover ups were found. I wanted to wait until we had more information...”

Matt stood, placing a supportive hand on her shoulder. “Would you like me to do it for you?” Matt asked softly.

“No,” Maria swiped angrily at the tears coursing down her face. “I’ll do it. You need to go help question those Quarrymen to see what they know.”

Matt gave her shoulder one more supportive squeeze, then left the office. He knew he had to go help with the questioning, but Elisa was his friend too. He felt as if he had been punched in the gut. He had still been holding onto the hope that Elisa was still alive. That whoever had taken her was going to contact someone for a ransom any day now and she’d be able to come home.

The Quarrymen had not come right out and said it, but he got the distinct impression that Elisa was dead and they knew it. 

That was the only reason that she would not be considered a threat to anyone.

Matt ducked inside of a janitorial closet. He just needed a moment to himself to come to terms with the fact that Elisa may be gone.

Matt felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Looking at the display screen, he saw that the number was coming from the Labyrinth. Matt silenced the phone, sending the call to his voicemail box.

‘Talon would hear the news soon enough,’ Matt thought bitterly.

He had to go get some answers of his own before he talked with anyone else.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

“Damn,” Maggie swore softly, hanging up the phone. 

“No answer?” Talon asked from behind. 

“No, just his voicemail, and it’s full,” Maggie said, frustrated.

“It’s just as well,” Talon said softly. “We don’t know for sure it’s her. Hell, even if it was her, we don’t know what bookstore Katie saw her at.”

“But, Talon,” Maggie began, but Talon held up a hand to hold her off.

“I can’t, Maggie,” He admitted hoarsely. “I can’t get my hopes up again. It’s been too long. We would have heard something by now if she…” He trailed off. Just because a part of him feared it was true, he couldn’t bring himself to actually say that she could be dead.

Maggie stepped closer to him, and drew him into her arms. Elisa had become a good friend, and Maggie missed her terribly.

But Elisa was Talon’s sister. His overprotective, independent, stubborn to the bone sister… and he missed her something fierce, she knew. He had been clinging to the hope that Elisa was alive for so long, Maggie was getting worried about him.

She felt his shoulders begin to shake under her hands, and drew him closer. He threw his arms around her and clung tightly.

Maggie laid her cheek against his chest and asked whatever Gods were listening to help them all through this.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Sunset came, and like every night, the Gargoyle clan awakened. Their roars were quieter, as they broke from their stone skins, their banter a little less boisterous. 

It had been a week since the Remembrance Ceremony had begun. This was to be the final night. 

With all of the excitement of finding out about the information on Elisa and the sabotage from the precinct, The Xanatos’ had forgotten to tend the fires. What was left of the wood had long since cooled leaving only small blackened marks and ash on the stone.

Through it all, the Gargoyles still went on their patrols every night, aiding the human police when they could. They still protected the castle, and each other.

For the first month, every night they would swarm into the castle, praying that there would be word from Elisa.

Gradually, the Xanatos family had watched as the clan had given up hope. Little by little, they had seen it happening. 

David sincerely hoped he wasn’t about to add to their unhappiness by giving them false hope, but they deserved to know what had happened.

“Goliath,” He called out, walking towards the imposing figure.

“Xanatos,” he greeted formally.

“There’s been a development.” He said. He saw the flare of hope in the leader’s eyes, and felt hideous that he could potentially put it out again. “It will take a while to explain. Will you all meet me in the Great Hall, and we can talk?”

“Of course,” Goliath said,”I will gather the others.” With that, he leapt from the tower, and glided down into the courtyard.

Xanatos took the more conventional way down, taking the stairs. He’d had most of the day to puzzle the situation out, and what to say. He was still unsure of how to talk to them all about it. 

By the time he got to the Hall, the clan was there, waiting. “I am more sorry than I can say for what has happened to you all over the past few months, but one of my investigators discovered something today.” David reached into his front pocket, extracting the botched flyer and handing it to the closest Gargoyle.

Hudson took it from his hand, frowning. “What is this?”

“That,” David said, angrily, “Is a mistake on an astronomical level. Someone changed anything remotely resembling Elisa to the point that she could have gone completely unidentified.”

Goliath took the paper, his eyes glowing phosphorescent white. “Who did this?” He demanded angrily. 

“I have been in contact with Matt at the station, and all he can tell me is that one of the file clerks was acting on orders of someone outside of the NYPD. She was under the impression that she was actually helping an abused woman who was in need of getting away from a dangerous situation,” Xantos gestured to the paper Goliath held. “As you can see, it may have worked. The woman pictured there was arrested a few years ago for drug possession, was released on bail and skipped town. Anyone seeing that flyer would have been looking for the wrong person.”

Goliath crumpled the paper in his fist.

“I don’t want to give you false hope,” Xanatos said earnestly. “But I am printing up flyers of my own, with the correct information, and distributing them to every hospital, police station and Private Investigator within a five state radius of us.” 

‘And every morgue,’ He added to himself. He didn’t mention that one out loud, however. He would cross that bridge when they came to it.

“So we wait,” Angela said, the spark of hope flaring in her eyes as well.

Xanatos looked from face to face of the clan, seeing a renewed hope build.

He really hoped that the small glimmer of renewed faith wasn’t going to destroy them all. 

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Once the beginning of the business day began the next morning, the precinct had already taken almost 20 calls from people in New Jersey. There were phone calls from police in Weehawken, reporting that a female of a similar description had been found injured and alone on a boat dock there. 

There were calls from the hospital in Hoboken from several of the medical and nursing staff who had treated her. 

No, they couldn’t give any information to them, because of HIPAA laws, but if they could provide a warrant, they could try to help.

Matt had still been at the precinct when the first call had come in, and he was still there about three hours later. Matt had been returning calls and trying to track Elisa’s current whereabouts.

So far, it had been established that a “Jane Doe” had been admitted with a gunshot wound and a head injury. The medical records people were going to be sending a photograph that was taken of her upon admittance, a standard procedure for anyone brought in unconscious and no identification.

In the meantime, he had taped a large map of the area onto a wall, and was tagging it with push pins so that he could follow any kind of pattern or trail. She had been alive when she had been brought in, and she had been released from the hospital.

If this “Jane Doe” was Elisa, she was alive when she left the hospital. Where had she gone from there? 

Matt was staring at the map, trying to plan his next step and deciding on where to look next, when Maria knocked on his door. He turned to face her, eyes zeroing in on the grainy, faxed photo in her hand. 

The ink cartridge in the printer was running low, and the colors were not great, but it was clear enough to make an i.d.

The woman laying in the hospital bed was pale underneath her dark olive skin tone, she had blood over a good portion of her face, and there were tubes and wires surrounding her. She appeared to be asleep or unconscious. 

Underneath it all, it was Elisa.

Matt’s eyes met Maria’s in shock. He had wanted to believe that they had found her, but he had still been trying to prepare himself for the worst. He was half expecting to find her dead and having to identify her remains. 

Maria nodded at him. “I’ve already contacted the hospital myself. Feel up to taking a drive?”

Matt grabbed his trenchcoat. “Let’s go.”


	25. Chapter 25

Because of the sensitive subject, as well as the urgency, they were able to secure a warrant for Elisa’s medical information before they had even left the station. Elisa had many acquaintances within the many branches of law enforcement, and they were all working together to try to get her home.

Judge Garcia had many dealings with Elisa over the years, finding her very informed, helpful and determined to do the right thing. When Elisa’s name had crossed his desk that morning, he had not only signed the order, he had sent his office assistant running the few blocks from the office building over to the precinct to personally hand it over to Maria.

Once it had been in her hand, Maria had phoned the hospital where Elisa had been treated. She had spoken to Penny Moore, a social worker who also worked in the medical records department. Not only was Miss Moore willing to meet with the NYPD officers, she offered to get as many of the original staff together who had treated her.

In the car, on the way across the river, Matt had gotten on the phone, requesting that the officers who had been working the “Jane Doe” shooting case meet them there as well. The officers were not on duty that day, but the New Jersey PD offered to call them at their homes. One officer could not be reached, but the other offered to meet them at the hospital. 

Maria and Matt arrived at the Hoboken University Medical Center, and headed into the meeting. They were escorted to one of the teaching hospital’s lecture halls, and both NYPD officers were humbled to see just how many people had gathered there to help.

“Ms Chavez?” An older woman asked, getting to her feet and greeting them.

“Yes,” Maria responded, shaking the woman’s hand. “You are Ms Moore?”

The woman smiled. “That’s me. Thank you for coming so quickly.”

Matt shook her hand next. “Thank you for doing all of this to help us. You have gone above and beyond, and I can not tell you how appreciative I am.”

Ms Moore shook her head, blushing a little in the face of the attention and praise. “Well, now,” She said, waving his praise away as if it was something that she heard all the time. “It was not so much, really. I was just happy that we found someone to identify her. I hate when people go unidentified because there’s no one looking for them. If I could be of help to aid one person find her family,” She shrugged. “It’s nothing that anyone else would have done.”

“Ms. Moore,” Maria said, “We will have to debate that one later.”

“Yes, of course,” Penny Moore said, motioning them forward. “This is a teaching hospital, so unfortunately some of the nursing students have left us to find employment elsewhere. I went through your detective’s files, and these are the nurses that are left.” She waved her hand to encompass the small group of uncomfortable looking nursing students. Some were in street clothes, but most were in scrubs.

“Her neurologist, Dr. Burkhardt, is here,” Ms Moore pointed to the tall blonde man, then moved on to a small Asian woman. “And the surgeon who performed the surgery on her shoulder is Dr. Hahn.

“Officer Lawson is one of the two officers who have been working with us in her case,” Again, Ms Moore pointed out another individual in the room. “And then there’s me,” She said, turning to face them. “I am the one who processed her paperwork. I believe that’s all of us, so where would you like to start?”

“I can start,” Dr. Hahn offered, standing. “I am sorry officers, but I am needed to speak at a conference in an hour, so it would be easier on me if I went ahead and told you what I can.”

Maria nodded. “Thank you for your willingness to help.”

Dr. Hahn stood, and walked to the podium at the front of the room. She opened up the file folder that she had brought with her and began reading her notes in the chart.

“Patient was brought in via ambulance at 0600 in the morning. She was unconscious and unresponsive. Physical exam showed that the patient had a large laceration on her scalp, requiring stitches, and a gsw to the left shoulder.” Hahn began.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

After almost two hours of listening to medical jargon and asking questions, Matt and Maria felt as if they had more than enough information to go on. 

There was just one more thing that they needed to know before they left, however.

Everyone else had been dismissed back to their duties, and so the last person for the two detectives to speak to was Ms. Moore, herself.

“I was the social worker assigned to your detective Maza. Unfortunately, I don’t have as much information to give you as I wish I could,” she admitted. “I can tell you that she was released three weeks after she was admitted. She had facial and head wounds, some requiring stitches. She was fully unconscious from the time she arrived for almost 48 hours. Because of the concussion and amnesia, as well as the physical therapy needed to regain function of her left arm because of the damage from being shot, we kept her here as long as we could. Despite the evidence of past wounds, she didn’t seem the type to be our usual troublemakers coming in shot. She was well spoken and friendly. We all kind of hoped that she had a family somewhere who would come forward and help her. Normally,  for cases that involve unidentified people, we write off the expense of their medical care the same as “Indigent” cases. They stay for a while and disappear. This young lady was a little different,” Ms Moore continued, grabbing a file folder of her own and presented it to the officers. “She made a real connection to one of the senior nursing students that was on her case, and the nurse was instructed to stay with her as much as possible to help her feel comfortable and a little more in control of her situation. Jane… er… Miss Maza,” Penny corrected herself, trying to use the woman’s real name now that it was known, “seemed to be more calm and cooperative if that particular nurse was present, and so she became that student’s primary patient for her last weeks here in the training program. She helped Miss Maza find employment and a place to live so that she wouldn’t end up in a homeless shelter, group home or on the streets.”

Matt and Maria suddenly sat a little straighter in their chairs. They had enough information to begin searching again, but if Ms. Moore could give them an actual starting off point…

“Do you have any information on where that nurse is now?” Matt asked, impatient now that they were so close.

“Let’s see,” Penny mumbled, sorting through the papers. “I know I had it in here… Ah!” She exclaimed, “She moved in with Margaret Wheeler. She was a student nurse who actually graduated the day before Miss Maza was released. I unfortunately don’t have her new address, but I can give you her old one here in Hoboken in case she left a forwarding address as well as the hospital where she is working now.”

“Yes, please,” Matt said, taking out his notepad to write the address down on. Maria beat him to it, however, and all Matt was able to do was knock everything from his pockets loose. There was a thud as his phone hit the floor and a mess of papers on the floor. 

He was half listening to the continuing conversation, and he scooped up the handful of receipts, post-it notes and finally picked up his phone.

Frowning, he saw that “missed call” light flashing. He made a mental note to check out who called and call them back.

“...Manhattan.” He finally tuned in to hear Ms. Moore say.

“Sorry,” Matt said, snapping to attention. “Manhattan?” Matt looked at Maria, incredulously. “Do you think she might still be on the island?”

“There’s only one way to find out,” Maria said, a look of determination crossing her face. 

Ms. Moore, seeing the suddenly intense looks on the faces of the two detectives. “I know that you are wanting to find Miss Maza as soon as possible,” Penny said softly. “If you would like to get back on the road, back towards Manhattan, I can call Mount Sinai for you and have them start tracking Nurse Wheeler down for you.”

“That would be immensely helpful,” Maria said, getting to her feet.

Matt followed suit. “Thank you again for all of the time and effort you have put into this.”

“Just glad to help, Detective,” Penny Moore said, smiling. “Now you get going, and find your detective.”

Without another word, Captain Chavez and Matt Bluestone turned and walked quickly towards the nearest exit.

Before they were even out the door, Captain Chavez was already barking orders into her phone. She was supposed to be in her office for her official work shift in two hours, so she was making arrangements with Officer Morgan to stay late so that she would not be needed right away.

Matt took out his phone, suddenly remembering the call that he had missed. He looked at the phone’s tiny screen display and realized it was from the Labyrinth. They had been calling throughout the day, and while Matt had not purposely been avoiding them, he hadn’t wanted another “she’s alive, go find her” pep talk from Talon.

While everything that they’d been told pointed to Elisa being alive somewhere, and in Manhattan, Matt still didn’t want to tell them anything and get their hopes up.

Matt put the phone back in his pocket. He’d call when he had something more concrete.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

“God damn it,” Talon shouted, slamming the phone down on the receiver. 

“He’s still not answering?” Maggie asked quietly.

“No,” He ground out in frustration. 

Maggie sighed, understanding Talon’s frustration. Quietly, she suggested, “Maybe we should take Katie out, ourselves. Try to have her retrace her steps and find out where the bookstore is. It couldn’t be far.”

Talon growled. “It’s still too early for us to be out without being seen.” Again, Talon picked up the phone. If he couldn’t get above ground to look, he’d find someone who could.

“Beth,” Talon barked into the phone. “I need your help…”


	26. Chapter 26

Half an hour later, Beth came into the Labyrinth’s Kitchen, where Talon, Maggie and Katie were sitting around the small table there.

“Hey,” Beth said, casually slinging her purse up onto the counter. “What’s going on?”

Talon rose to give the youngest Maza sibling a hug. “Glad you were able to make it.”

“Anytime,” Beth said. Curious, she looked at the little girl sitting at the table, currently eating a grilled cheese sandwich. “Who’s the pretty lady?”

“Her name is Maggie,” Talon said with a smirk. 

Beth sent him a withering glance. “I meant the young one that I have not met yet.”

Talon chuckled. “This is Katie,” Talon introduced. 

“Hey, Katie,” Beth greeted.

Katie mumbled something around a mouth full of the warm cheesy bite of sandwich. 

Beth grinned. “So what was the emergency?”

“Maybe you should take a walk,” Maggie said, nodding toward the little girl. “You can talk while you make your rounds.”

“Good idea,” Talon said, and took his puzzled sister by the hand. “We’ll be right back.”

Beth followed him out the door and stayed quiet until the heavy metal door shut behind them. Once the latch engaged, Beth pulled on her hand to make him stop. “Okay, Furball,” She said, crossing her arms. “Spill it. What’s with the little girl, and why are we talking out here?”

Talon nodded. “Okay. The little girl is here, staying in the private rooms, because she’s homeless. Her mother broke the rules of the Labyrinth last night and was asked to leave. “Well,” Talon shrugged, “She did. She left, and didn’t take her daughter with her. So, for the time being, Katie is staying with Maggie and I.”

“She just left?” Betha asked, flabbergasted. “Holy crap, Talon. What if she doesn’t come back? What happens to Katie?”

Talon shook his head. “We’ll decide that if it happens. She could still come back.”

“Yeah,” Beth said, a shadow crossing her face. 

“Hey,” Talon said, tugging his sister’s hand to get her attention. “Before we go too far down that path, allow me to side-track you for a moment.”

Beth frowned up at him. “You’re in a mood.”

“You might be too, as soon as I tell you what Katie said to us last night.”

Talon gave Beth an accounting of what all Katie had said. Between Maggie and him, they got as detailed a story from Katie as they could, but still didn’t know what bookstore she had been at when she’d seen someone who looked like Elisa. 

As he neared the end of his story, Beth’s eyes grew wide as she finally understood what he was telling her. 

“So,” She said, slowly, “You’re trusting in the memory of a six year old girl to try to find someone who may or may not look like Elisa?”

“I have to,” Talon said, a little desperate. “I have to believe that it was her.”

“No,” Beth said sadly. “You don’t. I’ve been watching mom and dad for months now, grasping at straws and losing hope of ever seeing Elisa again. I get it, I do,” Beth said passionately, “But I’m trying to keep that from happening to me. I already feel guilty enough that she was kidnapped while she was supposed to be safe with me.”

“I know you do,” Talon said, softly. “And I know that telling you not to won’t make that stop feeling like that, but it wasn’t your fault. Elisa’s a big girl, and drinking or not, she knew that someone was out to get her. She chose to go off alone.”

Beth gaped at her brother. She opened her mouth to say something, but Talon held up a hand to stop her.

“Sorry,” He said bluntly, “But I am not going to just sit here while you beat yourself up.”

“But she could be gone,” Beth said, quietly. “I know she went off for a while when she ran into mom, dad and I when they went to Avalon, but… She came back that time. I’m afraid that she’s really gone this time.”

Talon shook his head. “Beth, she might not be,” he admitted. “That’s why I called you down here. That little girl in there,” Talon motioned to the room behind him, “Pointed at a picture of Elisa and said that she’d just seen her here in Manhattan. Yesterday.”

“Talon,” Beth sighed, sadly. “That little girl… she’s what? Five? Six? It could have been anyone! Hell, I thought I’d seen her a few times myself. I kept chasing these random people on the street, thinking it was her.”

“Beth, I need your help,” Talon said, plainly. “You have had the ability to be up on the street, looking for her. I haven’t had that luxury, and now I have Katie in there, swearing that she saw Elisa. She may have cut her hair, but it  _ could  _ be her.”

Beth’s cell phone rang loud in the sudden silence that descended between the siblings. Beth jumped, then reached into her jacket pocket for the phone. “It’s dad,” Beth said. Putting the phone to her ear, she answered, “Hey dad, can I…”

Beth drifted off at the strange tone of his voice combined with the news that their dad was sharing. “Wait, dad… Dad!” Beth yelled into the phone. “Slow down, dad, I can’t understand you.”

A few seconds later, Beth’s eyes raised to meet Talon’s, a combination of excitement and shock showing in their brown depths.

“Dad,” Beth said slowly, “I’m here with Talon. Can you tell him what you just told me?” Wordlessly, Beth held her phone out for her brother.

“Dad?” Talon answered, cautiously. “What’s…”

Beth skirted around him, re-entering the kitchen. She felt as if she were walking in a daze. Words that her father had used were still swirling in her mind. Words she had prayed almost daily for two months to hear.

“They think Elisa is alive, and are looking for her now,” Peter Maza had said.

Beth walked to the table, placing a shaking hand on the back of one of the kitchen chairs. With a shaky smile, she leaned down towards the smiling little girl. “Katie, my name is Beth,” She introduced herself. “I was thinking about going to get some ice cream, and was wondering if you’d like to go with me.”

The little girl looked at her, suspiciously. 

Beth held out a hand to the girl. “I’m Talon’s sister,” She said, using the name that her brother had adopted when he had been given the mutagen that had transformed him into the physical shape he was in. “My name is Beth. I heard that you might have seen our older sister, Elisa, at a bookstore?”

The little girl nodded shyly.

Beth kept smiling, holding her hand out for the girl to take. “I thought we could go look for that store,” she said. “Even if we can’t find it, we can still stop for ice cream before we come back.”

The little girl smiled, hesitantly, then reached out to place her small hand in Beth’s.

Beth looked up to see Talon standing in the doorway, Beth’s phone still held limply in his hand. Beth walked to him, retrieving her cell phone before something could happen to it.

“We’re going to try,” Beth said, suddenly determined. “We aren’t going to promise anything,” she gave the little girl’s hand a friendly squeeze, “but we are going to try.”

Talon gave his sister a hug, then shooed them out the door.

Before leaving, Beth stopped by the cork board and chose a recent photo of Elisa to take with her just in case.

Maggie had gotten to her feet as soon as she had seen Talon’s expression. Something had happened, and she was afraid to ask what it had been.

Talon crossed the room in three long strides, and held her close. He ran his clawed hand through her hair in a comforting gesture, then whispered the words that Maggie had been praying to hear.

“They think that Elisa’s alive…”

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Matt raised a fist, banging loudly on the nondescript metal security door that listed the apartment number 323. This was Margaret Wheeler’s last known residence, according to the hospital in New Jersey.

They had already stopped by Mount Sinai, the Manhattan hospital that Ms. Wheeler had a position now, and was told that she had the night off.

They had managed to get the nurse’s current address from personnel and now they were at the apartment. Matt pounded on the door two more times before Captain Chavez cut him short. “Let’s see if one of her neighbor’s knows when she will be home.”

Maria knocked on the next door down the hall, and a mousy brown haired woman answered. “Yes?” she said, grumpily.

Maria brought her badge into view.

“Oh, sorry,” the young woman said, working at her chain lock before being able to open the door. With a yawn, the young woman apologized again. “Sorry, I work overnight shifts at the hospital, and wasn’t planning to even move for at least another hour.”

“I’m sorry we woke you,” Maria said, briskly. “I just have a few questions.”

“Sure,” The woman said, frowning. “Am I in trouble?

“No,” Maria said. “We are just trying to find your neighbor, a Miss Wheeler.”

“Margaret? Yeah, we’re both nurses at a hospital,” she said, surprise showing on her face. “What’s wrong?”

“We’re looking for a woman who looks like this,” Maria extended a black and white copy of Elisa’s photograph. 

The young woman took it and reacted. “Oh, yeah, I’ve seen her over there a couple of times,” She said, unaware of the effect her words had on the two detectives in the hall. “I mean, the hair is different, but I think she’s a friend of Margaret’s.”

“And where can we find Miss Wheeler,” Matt asked.

“I think I heard them earlier, talking about going to see a movie. I can’t remember the title, but it is a new romantic comedy movie at that AMC theater. I think it’s on 124th?”

“Thank you,” Maria said, turning to leave. 

Matt was already at the elevator, holding the call button to summon the elevator.

“She’s at a movie,” Matt said, sounding a cross between angry and slightly confused. “A romantic comedy. She  _ hates _ romantic comedy movies.”

“She always has,” Maria said, frowning. “She has amnesia, so we need to be prepared for some struggle on her part.”

Matt nodded. He had been thinking of that ever since they had heard the news at the Hoboken hospital. “Do you think that means that she forgot  _ everything _ ?”

“It was enough,” Maria said, grimly. “Enough for her to not contact anyone she knows. Not her friends, her family or the clan.”

The doors to the elevator opened, but Matt just stood there staring at Maria. “God,” Matt said in a rush. “She’ll have to meet everyone. Again.”

Maria nodded. “Including the Gargoyles,” she reminded him.

Matt groaned, leaning his head against the cool metal wall of the elevator car, watching as the lights slowly changed until they reached the parking levels.

“Let’s cross that bridge when we get there.” Maria suggested.

“Right,” Matt agreed. He dug the keys back out of his pocket. “It’s 7:30, and most evening movies start between seven and eight. Let’s hurry over to the theater before the movie ends.”


	27. Chapter 27

Beth walked hand in hand with the small, delicate girl. Katie was happily lapping at a double coop ice cream cone as they walked along. Once in a while, Katie would stop, look around and alter her path.

She’d been a trooper, Beth mused. She hadn’t complained once, and was determined to help.

Beth’s feet were starting to hurt. She’d been working since nine that morning, and had been on her way home when Talon had called her asking for help. She felt as if they’d already covered most of Morningside Heights, and now were wandering on 112th Street.

“Katie, how about we sit for a while?” Beth asked, desperate for a few minutes off of her feet. “Let’s just sit here, on the bench.”

Katie looked at her funny, but sat down.

“Feet hurt?” Katie asked.

“Yeah,” Beth said, sinking down with a sigh. “How long have you been staying with Talon and Maggie?”

“This time?” Katie cocked her head, thinking. “Almost two days?”

“Have you stayed at the Labyrinth before?”

“A couple of times,” Katie admitted. “I like it there, but they have a lot of rules that mom doesn’t like to follow, so we have to leave.”

“Where’s your mom and dad?” Beth asked.

“I don’t know dad,” Katie admitted. “But my mommy had to leave because she broke a rule again.”

“Really?” Beth asked, amazed that anyone could walk away from their child. 

“Yeah,” Katie said, quietly. “I think she will be back soon. She does that a lot.”

Beth was torn. In a way, she hoped so, for Katie’s sake… On the other side, also for Katie’s sake, she hoped the woman stayed gone so that Katie could have a chance at a family who cared for her.

One who wouldn’t leave her behind.

Beth rose to her feet with a groan. She would keep going, even if her feet fell off.

“We’re almost there,” Katie soothed. “I know where we are now.”

Beth smiled. “Just tell me where we’re going.”

“Over there,” Katie pointed across the street. 

There, in the middle of the block, was a red brick building that seemed almost out of place. It was smallish, and only three stories compared to its neighboring buildings. There was a light in the front window, the open sign was still up.

Beth grabbed Katie up in her arms, and began running, in a hurry now to get across the street. 

The woman inside was just flipping the sign from open to closed before Beth got there. 

“No, no, no,” Beth chanted as she rushed to the door. She gently put Katie on the ground and knocked on the door. The older woman in the store turned and frowned. She shook her head, pointing to her watch.

Beth frantically motioned for her to wait for a moment, taking the photograph of Elisa out of her pocket.

Beth pressed the photo to the glass, mouthing the word, “Help”.

The woman inside cautiously moved forward to inspect the photo being pressed to the glass of her front door.

Beth could see when recognition hit the woman inside. She moved her eyes from the photo to the young woman outside holding it up, and back again.

Sharon Owen, owner and operator of A to Z Bookstore, opened the door to the woman who very closely resembled her amnesiac employee.

“Please,” Beth said, still winded from her run across the street. “Please tell me you know this woman.”

“I might,” Sharon said, slowly. “The question is, do  _ you _ ?”

Beth smiled. “I think she may be my sister.”

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

While the previews had made this movie out to be funny and cute, in the end it was sugary-sweet in a sickening kind of way. It almost annoyed Elizabeth to the point that she wasn’t sure she would be able to sit through much more, and if it hadn’t been for Margaret, she would have left a long time ago.

The movie was nearly over. It had to be.

Please God...

Elizabeth looked down at the cheap cell phone that she had bought with her first paycheck for emergencies to look at the time. Nope. It was only about 30 minutes into the sappy mush that made up the “romantic comedy of the year”.

Before she managed to get the phone back in her pocket, it vibrated, signaling an incoming call.

She was saved!

It had all of two phone numbers programmed into it, and only two people knew her number: Margaret and Sharon.

Since Margaret was sitting beside her, the only other person it could be was Sharon.

“Excuse me”, Elizabeth said quietly to Margaret, grabbing her jacket and plopping her stocking cap on her head. “It’s Sharon. I’ll be right back.” 

Elizabeth excused herself, taking her phone outside to answer it.

Once she was in the light, Elizabeth, head bent low over the small portable phone, was so busy that she didn’t notice the tall man in the long tan coat. She bumped into him, and dropped the phone.

“I am so sorry,” Elizabeth said, kneeling to the floor and picking up her phone.

“Are you okay?” The man asked.

“I’m fine, thank you,” she said, getting back to her feet. She was embarrassed, and couldn’t make herself look up to meet his eyes.

Turning, she hurried outside to make her phone call where she wouldn’t be disturbed.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Matt watched the smaller woman as she rushed out the door. He felt bad, being that she was clearly embarrassed at running into him. Something about her was familiar, but he was focused on his mission. They were so close to finding Elisa, who may very well be in this theater.

A short, round man came hurrying up to the two detectives. “I’m sorry for the wait, officers,” He said. “My name is Manny, and I’m the manager on staff tonight. What can I help you with?”

“We’re needing a bit of help,” Maria said. She produced Elisa’s picture. “We are looking for this person in connection to a missing person’s case. According to her neighbors, she is here in a theater right now. We would like your cooperation to find her.”

Manny nodded. “Anything I can do to help. What movie is she in?”

The detectives were forced to admit that they weren’t sure. 

“It was a romantic comedy,” Matt said. “That’s all we know.”

Manny looked a little worried. “We have three different ones now,” He said, shrugging. “It’s the year for them.”

Maria nodded in sympathy. “We really need you to stop the films so that we can find this person.”

“It is an extremely important matter,” Matt admitted.

Manny nodded. “I will have the projectionist stop the projectors in those theaters. If you each go in one, I can go in the third one, and we can look around.”

“Thank you,” Maria said, grateful for his cooperation.

Manny walked to a small door, and up to the booth that housed the ten noisy projectors, while the detectives stayed there in the lobby. 

Matt was glancing around idly when he noticed the small woman with the phone come running back in. He watched as she ducked back into theater four, and kept watching the closed door. 

Something in his gut was telling him that something wasn’t right.

Manny reappeared at the door, red faced now from his running trip up and down the narrow stairs.

“They are turning off the movies now,” He said. “The movies are in theaters one, four and seven.”

“I’ll take four,” Matt said, almost absently, and began walking toward where the woman with the stocking cap had gone.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Elizabeth made her way to the lobby. Her phone had stopped ringing, but she hurried to press the call back button.

“Elizabeth?” Sharon answered after a single ring.

“Sharon, I am so sorry. I was in a movie theater, and couldn’t answer right away.” Elisa blurted out. “Do you need me?”

“Elizabeth,” Sharon began hesitantly. “I think you should come back to the store as soon as you can. I have a young woman here who thinks that you might be her missing sister.”

Elizabeth felt like she couldn’t breathe. She disconnected the phone call after promising to go directly to the bookstore.

She turned and ran back into the theater, and hurried to Margaret’s side. 

“We’ve got to go,” Elizabeth whispered loudly, grabbing her friend’s hand.

“Okay,” Margaret said, confused by the intense look on the woman’s face. She leaned over to pick up her small purse just as the movie suddenly stopped and the lights came on.

“What?” Margaret said, looking around the suddenly lit room.

Elizabeth tugged her hand again. “We’ve got to go.”

“Okay,” Margaret said, sensing her friend’s urgency. She grabbed her handbag and followed her friend as she hurried back up the aisle. 


	28. Chapter 28

Elizabeth pushed the door open, and ran straight into the chest of a tall red haired man.

The man reached out to catch her by the shoulders before she could lose her balance. 

“I am so sorry,” Elizabeth said, attempting to move around him.

With his hands still on her shoulders, the man looked down at her face, as clear shock took over his stern features.

“Elisa?” He asked her.

“What?” Elizabeth said, looking at his face for the first time. She couldn’t believe her luck, she’d run into this man a few minutes before, and here she was doing it again. “Oh, God, I am so sorry,” she said, breathless. “I didn’t mean to run into you again!”

“Elisa,” Matt said, still gripping her shoulders tightly. “It’s me. Matt”

“You know her?” Margaret blurted out, still clutching her bag tightly. 

“Yes,” Matt said, smiling. He looked his partner in the eyes. “Your name is Elisa Maza, and there are a lot of people looking for you. It’s me. Matt.” He frowned at the complete lack of recognition. “I’m your partner.”

Elizabeth suddenly felt a headache bloom behind her eyes. “Partner?” She asked, slowly. “Partner as in… are we dating or something?”

Matt barked out a surprised laugh.

“What’s going on?” Margaret asked, suddenly aware of the theater full of people, watching this drama unfold. “Look, uh...Can we take this out to the hallway?”

Matt blinked, seeming to come back to the present. “Sure,” he said. He needed to find Maria anyway.

Together, the trio moved out into the quiet hallway.

Matt looked farther down the hallway and spotted Captain Chavez. He motioned her over. Turning back to Elisa where she stood in the oversized plain brown tweed coat and the bright blue stocking cap, He wasn’t surprised that he hadn’t recognized her the first time she’d run into him in the lobby. She’s always been thin, but she’d lost some weight that she couldn’t really afford to. Her face was thinner, and her hair was so short that the cap had almost completely hidden it from sight.

“Matt,” Maria greeted as she approached the group. He was standing there with two women, both had their backs to her. “Did you find Miss Wheeler?”

The red haired woman turned to face her. “I’m Margaret Wheeler.”

Maria held out her badge, “Maria Chavez, I’m a captain with the NYPD. I need to ask you some questions…”

“Maria,” Matt interrupted with a smile. Gently, he turned Elisa to face her.

Maria gaped at her god-daughter. After so long of looking for her, afraid to believe that she was still alive yet not wanting to believe that she could possibly be dead, seeing her was a shock.

“Elisa?” She breathed.

Margaret looked from the woman detective to the man who still had a grip on Elizabeth’s shoulders. “What’s going on?” She asked, completely lost.

Maria shook herself out of her temporary stupor. “I’m sorry, Miss Wheeler, but we need the two of you to come to the station for a little bit,” Maria said, noticing for the first time that there was no recognition in Elisa’s eyes. “We believe that you can help us piece together some of the blanks surrounding a missing NYPD detective, Elisa Maza.”

Margaret looked at Elizabeth, surprised. “You’re a detective?”

Elizabeth… Elisa… held a hand to her forehead. “Maybe,” She said quietly. Then she looked at the nicely dressed detective in front of her. “But I need to make a stop first,” She said, turning to look at Margaret who was the only familiar face that she could focus on. “There’s someone at the bookstore with Sharon who is claiming to be my sister.” 

Margaret blinked at her. Then she smiled. “When it rains, it pours,” She said, threading her arm through the crook of her friend’s. She glanced at the two detectives. “Can we make a stop first?”

“Of course,” Maria said, turning to lead the way to the parked police vehicle in front of the theater’s entrance. “If Beth is there, she can come with us.”

“Beth?” Elisa said, weakly. She looked at Margaret desperately. She was so confused. Her head was pounding and her chest was feeling tight.

“Officers,” Margaret said, pulling Elisa to a stop. She led Elisa to a bench that was lining the theater lobby walls. “We need to stop for a moment.”

Elisa collapsed onto the hard seat of the bench, and Margaret gently pushed her head down. 

“Breathe, Elizabeth,” Margaret said softly. “In and out.”

Elisa closed her eyes, breathing slow and deep. “My head feels like it’s about to explode.”

“It’s no wonder, with everything happening so fast right now. Breathe, nice and slow. Here, give me your phone,” Margaret said. She took the small black phone from Elisa’s hands, dialed a number and handed it to the officers. “This will get you to the bookstore. If Elizabeth’s… Elisa’s… sister is there, can you have her meet us at whatever station we are going? I think it would be best just to go to one place. She needs a little bit to process before any more surprises.”

“Agreed,” Maria said, looking in concern at the woman who was her Goddaughter. When a voice answered from the other end of the line, Maria spoke, “This is Maria Chavez from the NYPD. Is Beth Maza there with you?”


	29. Chapter 29

Elisa was in a kind of walking unreality. None of this night could be real. 

For months now, she had struggled, trying to remember anything about her past. Suddenly, she runs into (quite literally) someone from her past. Two someones, actually.

Suddenly, she had a name. A family. A job.

It was all too much at once.

She had sat in the backseat, her eyes closed and head resting against the back, just trying to process what she knew. She was in the car with two police detectives, one of which was claiming to be her partner. She was a detective in the NYPD, at a station that was only a little over 20 minutes from her apartment above the bookstore.

She had a sister who was going to be meeting them at the station.

Margaret, her friend and only familiar person in this whole mess, was sitting beside her in the back of a police vehicle and holding her hand for support.

“Elizabeth,” Margaret said, giving her hand a squeeze. “I think we’re here.”

Elisa felt the car come to a slow stop, and opened her eyes. They were in front of a large, brick building, with the words “New York Police Department 23rd Precinct” carved into the stone wall outside. The male detective, Matt, opened the rear door for them, and the two women slid out of the backseat. As a group, they walked into the station.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Elisa was beyond overwhelmed. She entered the police station, and the mass of noise and confusion. She knew that she was being childish, but she couldn’t let go of Margaret. 

Margaret didn’t complain. In fact, she was very worried about her friend. She had hoped for Elizabeth to be able to find her family someday, but had not even thought about how it would actually happen. She was from a large family, herself, and tried to picture being thrown into a room of complete strangers, all claiming to know who and what you were without any knowledge of it all herself.

As far as she was concerned, Elisa was holding it together rather well.

The main room was a hive of noise and activity, people in plain clothes and uniforms alike, hurrying from place to place. Raised voices filled the air, giving the whole scene a very Hollywood Movie unreal feel as they followed Matt and Maria through the mess.

“Oh, my God!” The woman’s voice came from close by, ringing out above the predominantly male tones in the room. “Elisa!”

That single word, that name, caused an almost instantaneous silence. It was as if someone had frozen everyone in place, as face after face turned to look in their direction.

Elisa cringed, trying to hide from their scrutiny by moving behind Margaret.

A younger woman, with a small child in tow, ran across the room towards them. She let go of the child’s hand to throw herself at Elisa.

Elisa stood there, hands at her side, looking dazed. She looked at the mop of short black hair of the woman who had rushed forward, wishing for all the world that she recognized her. Things would be so much easier if she could. 

“Elisa?” Came a small, childish voice.

Elisa looked down into the face of the first familiar face she had seen in almost an hour. “Katie?” Elisa slid from the young woman’s arms, kneeling to the floor. “What are you doing here?”

“I found you,” Katie announced, proudly. “I couldn’t remember where the store was, but Beth took me on a walk, and I found it again.”

“Beth?” Elisa asked, looking up at the younger woman. “Are you Beth?”

Beth Maza, emotion clogging her throat, could only nod her head. She swiped at the tears that were running down her cheeks. After months of waiting, and searching, her sister was there. Months of guilt, doubt and fear seemed to melt away, leaving only tears in their place. She never cried, not really, but couldn’t seem to stop.

“Beth,” Maria said quietly, coming to her side. “Why don’t you and your little friend,” Maria said, nodding toward Katie, “Why don’t you two wait for us in my office?”

“Okay, Aunt Maria,” Beth said, sniffling. “Have you called dad yet?”

“No,” Maria said. “If you would like to, you can use my phone, but please tell them to not come in guns blazing.” She looked at the increasingly panicked face of Elisa. “Tell them she is here, safe, and to take their time getting here.”

Beth finally took a look at Elisa’s face and nodded. She took the small girl’s hand in hers, and led her towards the back offices.

“Elisa,” Maria said, aware of the other officer’s expressions. “Let’s go to one of the private interrogation rooms in the back.”

Elisa simply followed the woman, passing the other officers on her way. Choruses of “welcome back” and “glad to see you again,” followed her as she passed through the room. 

For the most part, Elisa was left alone in the interrogation room with Margaret. They spoke quietly to each other, trying to make sense of the past few hours. 

It had happened so quickly, so unexpectedly, that even Margaret (who didn’t have amnesia and knew who she was) was utterly lost.

In an attempt to lighten Elisa’s spirits, even a little, Margaret said, “Well, at least now we know why the name Elizabeth rang such a bell for you.”

Elisa looked at her curiously.

Margaret smiled. “Elisa and Beth. Elizabeth.”

Elisa blinked at her and chuckled softly, then went silent once more.

Margaret sighed, and took one of Elisa’s hands in hers in silent comfort.

Finally, Maria re-entered the room, closing the door behind her. She took a seat on the other side of the table and spoke quietly. “Elisa, your parents are here.”

Elisa nodded. She’d had a feeling that they would come, and she would have to meet them. She was numb now, having too much happen too fast. 

Margaret had given her some aspirin for the headache, but nothing seemed to work. 

Elizabeth… No her name was Elisa… she reminded herself, felt like her brain was going to shut down. It was now about three in the morning. She was tired, and she honestly didn’t know how much more she could take right now.

But her family was there. People who had a deep connection to her, and hadn’t seen or heard from her in months. She didn’t want to disappoint them, feeling bad that they were still waiting to speak to her. 

What if they were all wrong? What if she wasn’t who they thought she was?

None of this was recognizable to her. If this was really where she belonged, shouldn’t  _ something _ be familiar? 

“Elisa,” Captain Chavez asked, insistently, getting her attention once more. “Are you ready for them to come in?”

Elisa hesitated, but nodded her head. Maybe seeing them would jog a memory. If nothing else, it could bring a measure of comfort to the people waiting to meet her.

She was either their missing family member, or not. Either way, they would all have answers.

Margaret got slowly to her feet. “I think I’m going to go grab something to drink,” She said, uneasy with being in the room for the family’s reunion.

“Okay,” Elisa acknowledged hollowly.

Margaret was suddenly torn. She looked at Captain Chavez, who motioned with her head for the nurse to follow her.

Maria got to her feet, and opened the door. She allowed Margaret outside before she said something quietly to the officer stationed outside of the door, and closed it again. 

She could see that Elisa was having trouble understanding everything, and felt sorry for having to expose her to even more stress, but she only had the best of intentions.

Like Elisa, she was hoping that seeing the family would help her to remember.

The door opened again, and in walked the Maza family. Well,  _ most _ of the Maza family. Talon was not going to be able to just waltz into the station to see his sister.

Peter entered first, followed by Diane. Beth brought up the rear, still holding on to Katie’s hand.

“Elisa!” Peter called, hoarsely. He rushed forward, taking his eldest daughter roughly into his arms and holding her close. Diane, unable to speak through the rush of emotion, threw her arms around her husband and daughter.

Elisa stood, rigid with her arms at her sides, while these two people held her tightly. She met Maria’s gaze, helplessly.

Beth did not join the group, having already seen the extent of Elisa’s confusion and lack of recognition. 

Maria watched helplessly. She sincerely wished that she could help. She had been Peter Maza’s partner for a few years in the NYPD, and had remained friends with him for many years afterward. She remembered when Elisa had been born, when all of the Maza children were born, and had even been asked to be their Godmother. She had never had children of her own, and had taken on the role of “aunt” for the Maza children.

It hurt her on a level that would be hard to describe, watching the family struggle right now. They were good people who did not deserve something like this.

Peter and Diane drew back, sadness showing on their faces. It was obvious from the lack of response from their daughter that she still didn’t have any idea of who they were.

Elisa’s face shouted her confused state far louder than any words.

Diane took her eldest daughter’s hands in hers, “I am just so happy that you are alive,” She said.

Peter nodded, placing a hand on his wife’s shoulder.

Beth stayed away, having already been the recipient of this new Elisa’s distance.

Katie pulled away from Beth, moving forward to tug on Elisa’s jacket sleeve. Elisa looked down at the little girl, the only familiar face in the room.

Katie motioned for her to come closer, and whispered, “Will you read me the ‘Runaway Bunny’ book again?”

Elisa gave a short, startled laugh. She was so grateful for the tension breaker, that she swept the little girl into a hug. “I will make sure to find a copy of it, just for you,” She said, her eyes suddenly swimming with tears.

Katie reached out, wiping one of the tears away and threw herself into Elisa’s arms. 

Elisa held the child closely, as it finally felt as though the dam had broken. Oh, she’d had some teary moments since she had woken up with no memory in that sterile hospital room, but she had never really allowed herself to really break down. 

She had been afraid to cry, feeling that if she started, she would never be able to stop.

This is what she had been afraid would happen, and here she was in a police station, sobbing uncontrollably in the middle of a group of strangers.

Peter, Diane and Beth all knelt beside her, and held her together as she cried.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Elisa was feeling a special kind of exhausted.

She had sat in the precinct station house for hours with her family and the Captain. They had been asking questions, only a freakishly small portion she could answer. She still didn’t remember any of them, and was really beginning to be irritated by the sad faces on everyone whenever she had to answer a question with “I don’t know”.

She was the one who was going through all of this, wasn’t she? She was the one whose memory was blank, not them. They still had their memories of who they were and where they came from. 

Hell, they had memories of  _ her _ . That, in itself, was more than she had.

Finally, a halt was called. Elisa couldn’t remember anything, couldn’t help them with anything, and she was just getting more and more frustrated with it all. 

Elisa had sent Margaret home hours ago with a promise to call each other tomorrow. 

Katie, the little girl that Beth had credited to her finding Elisa, had curled up in the corner, on a fold up cot from the jail side of the station and a pile of blankets. Elisa kept glancing at the little girl, concerned about her. When Elisa had first met her at the bookstore… God, had it only been a day or two ago?... she had been certain that the little girl had been homeless. Why, then, was she out and about with the woman claiming to be her sister? Where was the girl’s mother?

Captain Chavez finally called a halt to the questioning, much to Elisa’s gratitude. Elisa could have kissed the woman.

Together, the Maza family stood. 

Beth moved to collect Katie, wrapping her up in one of the blankets for ease of transport back to where she had been staying. 

Peter and Diane offered to take Elisa to her “real” apartment for the day, and as much as Elisa didn’t want to go, she accepted. Perhaps being around the things that had formed her previous life, she could regain her memories sooner.

Honestly, Elisa would probably have agreed to anything, just to get out of the police station and away from the hopeful eyes of her family.

Diane took Katie from Beth’s arms, holding her close for the walk to the car. She and Peter had decided to give everyone rides to where they needed to go. They would drop Elisa off first, at her apartment. 

Beth would take her up, using the keys that had been left with her when Elisa had gone missing. She had been living in the spare room of Elisa’s place when she had gone missing, and had remained there to keep an eye on the place.

Elisa was so uneasy with Beth, however, that Beth had offered to stay with Diane and Peter for a few days. She would wait until either Elisa was able to be comfortable on her own, or would like her to stay on with her as a roommate.

Once Elisa was settled, they would take Katie back to the Labyrinth to stay with Talon and Maggie.

Peter and Diane led the way back through the station, with Elisa and Beth following behind.

As before, the station grew noticeably quieter while the estranged family made their way through. Magically, a path formed in front of them, allowing them a clear path.

Elisa frowned. Something about this scene seemed surreal. Familiar… yet not. She found herself falling behind the group, feeling the need to hang back a little, just in case something jolted something loose in her brain.

“What?” A man’s raised voice came from behind her. “God damn it!”

Elisa was in the process of turning, when she caught a blur of movement out of the corner of her eye. Quickly, instinctively, Elisa bent at the waist. She used the man’s momentum against him, throwing her arm around his waist, her shoulder into his solar plexus and flipping him over her shoulder and onto his back.

They both landed on the floor, him first, then her. 

Despite the fact that a woman weighing roughly half as much as he did had just laid him out, in the middle of a police station, he was still fighting. He managed to get an arm around her neck, and tried getting her in a chokehold. 

With both of them on the ground, and only having second to react before he could seriously hurt her, she drove her head backwards into his. He grunted in pain, but it hadn’t loosened his grip. Elisa grabbed his right leg and applied enough pressure to his knee with her elbow that she felt his kneecap actually pop out of place. He screamed and loosened his hold enough for Elisa to raise an elbow up to slam into his face. 

She scrambled to her feet. As soon as she was free, the man on the ground was covered head to toe in cops. Every cop in the room, including Elisa’s dad, had jumped in to make sure that the man couldn’t get a hold of her again. 

Elisa stood, chest heaving in anger and glared at the man who was yelling and cursing under the weight of so many people.

He was cuffed and put into a chair in only a matter of moments. 

“Are you alright?” Peter asked, breathless from his own exhortation. 

“Yeah,” Elisa answered. If she had been asked to recreate what she had just done, there was no way she could have. Hell, she wasn’t even sure what she had done. “I guess I must have done that a lot?”

Peter raised an eyebrow. “Yes. You are a black belt in Karate, and have taken a lot of self defense classes.”

“Then you joined the NYPD,” Beth interjected, looking impressed, “and you got even more scary strong and fast.”

“Let’s hear it for muscle memory,” Elisa said, sarcastically.

“Still nothing?” Beth asked.

Elisa shook her head, still not taking her eyes off of the man who had attacked her. He was still screaming about his knee, even as blood was running down his face from his broken nose, and the officers had called for medical transport. Other than that, the officers didn’t seem overly concerned about his health.

“You’re a special kind of stupid, aren’t you,” a tall, older officer asked. The anger and disgust practically oozed from his words. “Attacking an officer in a police station.”

“She’s a traitor,” Came the ranting, pain filled voice. “She chose the monsters, instead of her own kind.”

Elisa frowned at him. “Monsters?”

The man glared at her, his hostility an almost tangible thing. “Go ahead, and play dumb, bitch,” the man snarled. “Go ahead. But we know what you are, and we will not rest until those creatures are wiped off of the face of the Earth!”

Elisa shook her head at him, alternately angry and confused. “What are you talking about?”

The man hesitated the barest of moments, then began to struggle anew. Officers were on him instantly, holding him to the wheeled office chair. 

“No!” He began screaming again. “No, it’s got to be her. It looks like her, the traitor.”

“Detective Vargas,” One officer called, “Want to come take a look at this?”

A plainclothes female officer came running forward. “What’s up,” the woman asked. 

“He’s wearing colored contacts,” The officer said. 

“And…?” The detective tried prompting him. 

The officer sent her a withering look. “I was just typing and processing his release paperwork. We held him 24 hours, but didn’t have enough to officially charge him with anything. There’s no mention of contacts or that his eye color is anything but brown.”

The detective raised an eyebrow at the officer. “Did anyone run this joker’s prints?”

“Yes,” The officer shook his head. “But I don’t think any hits came back.”

“Well, let’s run them again before he leaves for the hospital for medical treatment for that knee.” The detective said.

“Assaulting an officer,” the older officer said. “That’s enough to hold him, charge and book him.” He smiled. “You just made my day.”

Elisa tilted her head, staring at the man. She was having that tingling sensation again. There was something faintly familiar about this man. She felt as though she should know who he was, but…

Nothing. Again.

Damn it.

Elisa shrugged it off, turning to make her way out of the station. She suddenly needed fresh air.

Peter followed his daughter closely behind, as she made her way through the suddenly dense crowd of cops to the doors. Elisa threw her weight behind it, slamming the doors open as she hurried outside. Once there, Elisa leaned against the metal railing there and took a couple of gasping deep breaths. 

Peter rubbed his daughter’s back. “Slow and deep breaths,” He reminded her, as he had many times when she had gotten that angry in the past. It had been many years since he had had to do this, but if she needed it, he would help.

“I’m okay,” Elisa protested, but didn’t pull away from her father. “I’m okay,” she said again. sounding a little steadier.

“Let’s take you home before anything else happens,” Diane suggested, still holding the sleeping Katie.

“Agreed,” Beth said with a sigh. 

Elisa nodded, following them to the car.


	30. Chapter 30

Once at the penthouse floor that housed her condo, Elisa was more than a little uneasy. She had poked around the rooms while Beth was packing a small bag.

Elisa stood in her bedroom for a moment, weighing her options and sorting her feelings. Finally, she hurried back downstairs and caught Beth before she left.

“Hey,” Elisa called out. “I know you have to take Katie somewhere, but I think it would be better if you stayed here.”

Beth turned to look at the woman who was her sister… yet not her sister. “Are you sure?”

Elisa hesitated a moment, then nodded her head. “Yes, please. I think I would feel better if you were here.”

Beth nodded, giving Elisa a small smile. “Okay.” Beth put her bag back down. “Let me go take Katie back, and I can come right back.”

Elisa nodded, and watched as her sister ran out the door. She was tired, but honestly didn’t know which bedroom was hers. She grabbed the afghan off of the back of the oversized couch and laid down. She was sure that Beth would wake her up when she got back, so Elisa curled up and vowed to only close her eyes for a moment.

She was asleep almost as soon as she laid her head on her armrest.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

“How is she?” Talon asked

He had gotten the call from his dad late that night, and had fought the urge to go to the precinct to see her for himself… But he didn’t think people were ready to see a large black panther looking man with wings waltz into the station. He had been waiting by the phone, willing it to ring. 

The next phone call he had received had been from Beth, letting him know that it was, indeed, Elisa, and she was back at her condo. Beth was going to come by and drop Katie off, then return to the condo to stay with Elisa for the time being.

Talon had been stationed at the main entrance of the labyrinth, waiting for someone to show up.

A few hours later, after sunrise, a frazzled Beth had entered, holding a still sleepy little girl in her arms. “It was really Elisa? How does she look? Is she ok?”

Beth sighed, and gave her brother a look. “Hello,” she said, sarcastically. “How are you? I’m great by the way, thanks for asking.”

“Beth…” Talon said warningly.

“She’s alive, Talon,” Beth said, tiredly. “She’s home.”

“And?” Talon prompted.

“And,” Beth stressed, “The only one of us she has recognized was Katie.”

Talon frowned. “Why Katie?”

Beth shrugged. “She met Katie recently. She has a definite case of Amnesia. She didn’t recognize mom, dad, Matt or anyone at the precinct.”

“Damn,” Talon said low.

“Yeah,” Beth said. “That about covers it. Look,” Beth said, picking Katie up and passing the sleepy burden on to her Brother, “I need to get back to Elisa before she flips out.”

“Is it really that bad?”

“She doesn’t recognize anything, and is staying in a strange place.”

“OK, I get it,” He said, impatiently. “But I want to come by tonight to see her.”

“We haven’t told her about you, yet,” She warned.

“Then I’ll stay on the balcony,” Talon bursted out. “She’ll never see me. Come on, Beth. I just want to see her and make sure she’s okay.”

“She’s fine,” Beth said, turning. “But come over if you need to. I’ll see you tonight.”

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Beth returned to the condo to find Elisa out cold. Beth debated the merits of waking her up to get her into her bed, but left her there for the time being. She was clearly exhausted, and Beth couldn’t blame her.

Beth quietly made her way to the guest room. She had been staying there since Elisa had disappeared, taking care of the place, taking care of Cagney, and trying to keep the place ready for Elisa whenever she was able to come back home.

Beth removed her shoes and sat on the side of the side of the bed with a sigh. She collapsed backward onto the bed, covering her eyes by throwing an arm over them. 

She was so happy to have found Elisa…

But it wasn’t Elisa. Not yet. 

Possibly not ever, if she were honest to herself.

Everyone else, her parents included, fully expected Elisa to be found and have her just pick up where she’d left off. There had been a brief flash of the Elisa that she’d grown up with when she’d taken that guy down at the station, but otherwise she was a stranger.

She’d been talking with Matt before her parents came in, and he was as concerned as she was. She hadn’t shown any sign of recognition of him or Maria.

If that wasn’t worrisome enough, she hadn’t shown any sign of knowing anything about her past.

Elisa was a born and bred legacy of the NYPD. She had worshipped their father, and had always been hounding him for information. What did he do, what did he know and what she needed to work on to be an officer.

It was when she was at the academy that she had been tested and approached about training to be a detective. 

She had scored so well on her exams to become a detective, that she became one of the youngest detectives ever to be with the NYPD. Elisa was so proud to be on the force, if she would retain anything from her past Beth was sure that would be it.

Elisa was a born cop, alright. She lived, breathed and bled Blue.

One other thing was bothering Beth more than others. She really must have been the only person in the family that Elisa told about the engagement. Elisa had not asked about her fiance… and no one else seemed to have mentioned it to her.

Beth had not been thinking about notifying anyone outside of the family right away, but she should have.

The last thing they needed was for one of the clan to stop by and scare the bejeezus out of Elisa. 

After all, Beth was already worried about their brother coming by and being spotted. 

With a groan, and without sitting up, Beth kicked off her shoes. Grabbing one side of the comforter, she rolled up in it and tried to get some sleep.

She would call the castle soon. She just needed a couple of hours of sleep to be able to function…


	31. Chapter 31

5:00 p.m.

The Jade Building

"Really, Beth," Elisa protested grumpily. "I don't need to see a doctor."

"I know, I know," Beth grumbled herself. "But mom is insisting. Besides, Dr. James is your regular doctor, and he can just." Beth waved her hand in the air, "check things out."

Elisa sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. She was standing in front of the massive condo building with Beth, waiting for their parents to come and pick them up.

It was late afternoon, and while the sun hadn't set yet, hints of evening were creeping over the sky. Elisa wasn't sure how her parents had talked a doctor to meet with her after regular business hours, but somehow they had and so she was stuck with it.

The ride to the Xanatos Enterprises building was uncomfortable. Beth and Elisa were quiet in the backseat, while Peter and Diane chatted from the front. They chattered on about the weather, their neighbors and old family friends who were happy that Elisa had been found.

Elisa was trying hard not to be angry, but this whole situation was so absurd. She didn't feel like she belonged here, with these people. She had finally settled in at the bookstore, in her tiny apartment, and had made a few friends of her own. Now she was once more lost.

She was told that these were her family members. Where she worked, and who she was friends with.

This feeling shouldn't be new. It had been a few months since she woke in the hospital with nothing… not even a name.

She wasn't sure which was worse. Then or now.

Finally, the large Buick pulled to a stop outside of the steel and glass skyscraper. Elisa got out as quickly as she could without seeming as desperate as she was feeling.

Beth assured her parents that everything was fine, and that they would call when they were ready to go.

Elisa found herself staring at the obscenely tall building. There was the tingling in her head again, making Elisa feel like there was something familiar about this place. Up, up and up she looked.

"Everything Okay?" Beth asked, joining her.

"Is that…" Elisa frowned at the faint outline against the blue of the sky. "Is that a castle?"

"Yeah," Beth said, slowly. "David Xanatos, the guy who owns this building, has more dollars than sense. He had it transported here from Scotland, brick by brick."

"Sheesh," Elisa huffed. "The things rich people will do."

"Tell me about it," Beth snidely replied. Then she sighed. "Come on, let's go."

(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((-)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Elisa, thankful that she had not been decked out in the typical drafty paper gown, was sitting on the table with her legs swinging. There was no one else in the office, so Elisa could only guess at what was keeping the doctor from keeping the appointment time.

He was probably talking with Beth. Getting her take on Elisa's state of mind, and all that. Elisa stood up from the table, and began wandering around the room. There were no windows to the room, which Elisa found kind of odd. Instead, there were large, colorful paintings to distract and calm the patient.

God, she wished it was working. Nothing about the last few days was calming or relaxing. She was beyond stressed. There had been a near constant pounding in her head since she had woken in the strange living room this afternoon, and it seemed to be getting stronger. She was still able to function, barely, but it was getting more and more difficult to hide it.

Something told her that her family would not hesitate to hospitalize her. She had had enough of hospitals to last a lifetime.

Finally the doctor came in. He was tall, not much older than she was. He was dressed in a white lab coat with his name embroidered on it.

"Hello," Dr James said with a smile. "My name is Dr James."

Elisa raised an eyebrow. "I was told that we know each other."

"That's true," Dr James admitted. "But if you don't remember me, I would feel better re-introducing myself instead of just assuming you are comfortable with me."

"Thank you," Elisa said quietly.

Dr James took a seat on a short, backless stool in one corner of the room. "You are not my first patient with a head injury. There is always a period of adjustment, and sometimes pushing people back into their old life too soon does more harm than good."

Elisa cocked her head to the side, sizing this man up. "Have you worked with many amnesiacs?"

"A few," he admitted with a shrug. "I was an army medic, so most of the head injuries I worked with were more along the lines of Traumatic Brain Injuries with permanent and lasting effects to the person's life. I worked with a few amnesia cases that were the result of an injury or a traumatic event, though."

"Really?" Elisa asked. "You can get amnesia through an event, and not just injury? That might make sense," She admitted. "I was found on a dock by some random guy's boat, shot and with a head injury. That's about all I know about it."

"Luckily," Dr James said, tapping the large file folder in his hands. "I was sent a copy of your file from the hospital in Hoboken this afternoon, so I can add it to your file. In the meantime, don't worry about it overly much. No two amnesia cases are the same, but there is one rule that seems to be the same across the board; The more you push yourself, the longer it may take to recover." The doctor got to his feet, and placed the file on the stool behind him. "The brain is still pretty much a mystery to us," he admitted. "The brain finds ways to protect itself, sometimes, that make little or no sense. Sometimes it is permanent, sometimes it is not."

"What if this is permanent?" Elisa asked.

"Then it's permanent," Dr. James said with a Comforting smile. "You have a pretty big support system between your friends and your family."

"Yeah," Elisa agreed. "But…"

"But?"

"They don't feel like mine," Elisa admitted. "They say that I am their family. That my name is Elisa."

Dr James smiled, sympathetically. "But nothing seems familiar?"

"Exactly," Elisa said, thankful that someone finally got it. "Especially Diane and Peter… Uh, my mother and father. They just keep talking about people and things that I am just magically supposed to know. Beth is a little better," Elisa admitted with a frown, "But I think she's already getting disappointed and frustrated over my lack of memory."

"I would tell you not to worry about it," Dr James said with a sad smile, "But that would be like telling you not to breathe. So, for now, let's just go ahead and see how you're doing, and go from there."

"Okay," Elisa said, rubbing her forehead softly.

"How are you feeling overall?" He asked. "Headaches?"

"You have no idea," Elisa said. "It is constant, and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger."

"Hmmmm," Dr James said, thoughtfully. "It might be your brain trying to reform its connections, but let's take a look."

Elisa had to give the doctor credit. He had quite the setup at his office.

He had a compact MRI machine, and he ran some scans of her head. He gave her a thorough check up, involving the dreaded paper gown. By the end of it all, Elisa was pretty sure that he knew more than she did about her body makeup.

"Well," Dr James said with a reassuring smile, "everything looks fine. Your bullet wound has healed nicely and so has the laceration on your scalp. The scans all came back clear, so there are no active bleeds anywhere."

"That's good, right?" Elisa asked, anxiously.

"That's very good," he confirmed with a patient smile. "That means that you are up and healthy again. The memory will come when you are ready."

"I'm ready now," Elisa said, a slight whine to her voice.

Dr James knew that tone, even if she didn't. "Don't push it," he warned. "The more you push yourself, the less likely it is to come back. It might," He said, but had to push for caution. "but with this kind of retrograde amnesia, sometimes taking it easy is the best way."

"Retrograde amnesia? That's a new one," Elisa said. "What's that?"

"It is a memory loss of information and events prior to your injury. In most cases, people who experience this kind of amnesia, retain their personalities even if their past is not there anymore. You'll just have to try new things to see if you like them. You might find that you prefer chocolate ice cream over vanilla. Fruit Loops compared to Lucky Charms."

"Crime shows over romantic comedies," Elisa chimed in.

"Exactly." Dr James said with a smile.

"Muscle memory, huh?" Elisa muttered "That explains the police station."

"What was that?" Dr James asked.

"I… Uh…" Elisa trailed off, embarrassed. "I kind of flipped a guy onto his back and hurt him."

"Whoa," He said, impressed. "That may have been muscle memory kicking in, and that will happen. You are a tough cookie, and a cop to boot. I wouldn't really be surprised if more comes back to you as you go on. What did he do to warrant a solid ass kicking?"

"That's the thing," Elisa said, frowning. "I don't even know. He yelled something about me being a traitor, and that's as far as they got before they hauled him away. There was someone talking about contacts…"

Dr. James frowned, concerned. "And you don't know why?"

"Nope."

"If you would like," Dr James proposed cautiously, "We can contact your partner, Matt, and see if he's heard anything."

"That would probably be good." Elisa admitted. "I'm a bit curious about it."

"A bit?" He smiled.

"A lot," Elisa shrugged. "I'm evidently a bit nosy."

"You're a detective for a reason," He reminded her. "You're a great detective, because you listen to your instincts. If you feel the need to find out what was going on, then we should find out."

"How?" Elisa said, a sparkle coming into her eyes since the first time he'd seen her.

"Let's go upstairs and talk to Mr. Xanatos," He suggested getting to his feet. "I'll call up and let him know that we're coming while you get dressed."

"Alright," Elisa said, with the first genuine smile she'd shown. She got to her feet. "Go make your calls, doc. I'll be out in a minute."


	32. Chapter 32

Dr. James, true to  his word, called up to the castle and spoke to David Xanatos. He explained the situation and asked if he could contact Matt Bluestone for an update for Elisa. 

Xanatos, concerned about the events at the station himself, agreed to make some calls.

Dr. James was hanging up the phone when Elisa came out, pulling on her newly reclaimed red jacket.

“Mr Xanatos is contacting Detective Bluestone now,” Dr James said. “I can take you up to the Xanatos family’s personal floors, and he will have hopefully heard something by now.”

“Terrific,” Elisa said, looking around the empty reception area. “Wait… Where’s Beth?” she asked, feeling a slight wave of guilt that she had almost forgotten that her sister had been with her.

“I believe she’s already upstairs,” He said cryptically. He knew that Beth was upstairs, because she had wanted to catch the clan when they woke for the evening and explain about Elisa’s memory loss. She would let them know that Elisa was o.k., but that she didn’t remember them…

He didn’t envy her the job. He had seen first hand the toll that losing Elisa had taken on them. The fact that she would be telling them that she was alive, but not to let Elisa see them for an indeterminate amount of time until her memory (hopefully) returned was not going to be easy.

“Let’s go,” Elisa said, anxiously.

Dr James led the way to the elevator, waving his badge over the security sensor that would call the Xanatos Enterprises express elevator. Once the elevator had made its way to the medical floor, another wave of the badge over the number pad inside allowed him direct access to the upper levels, into the castle.

It was a short ride to the top, the doors opening into a wide, stone hallway.

Elisa found herself drawn to the stone work, running her hands along one of the walls. 

“Is this in the castle?” She asked, following the patterns between the large stone blocks with her fingertips.

It is,” Dr James said, watching her face for any sign of recognition. “We are in the Xanatos family only area of the building. David Xanatos, the owner of Xanatos Enterprises, along with his family live here.”

“Wow,” Elisa breathed. “It was so high up that I could barely make out the castle from the ground outside.”

“It is very high up,” He confirmed, leading the way to David Xanatos’ office. “It is one of the tallest buildings in Manhattan.”

“Above the clouds,” Elisa said, quietly, not sure where the thought had come from. Elisa ran a hand over her forehead. The headache, which had been down to a dull ache, came roaring back.

The doctor caught the action, and the involuntary grimace that had accompanied it. “Headache getting worse?” He asked, concerned.

“Yeah,” She said, suddenly sounding tired. 

“Hmmm,” Dr James hummed thoughtfully. “I can take you to Xanatos’ office and then run down to get you some medication for the headache.”

“I took some tylenol before leaving home,” Elisa said.

He shook his head. “I have a pain reliever that is a couple of steps above that. They won’t knock you out, but it will help with the pain. Why have pain if you don’t need to?”

“That would be amazing,” Elisa said, gratefully. “Sorry to have you make another trip.”

“No problem,” He replied. “That’s what I’m here for. Let’s find a quiet place for you to lay down in, and I will be back up in a few minutes.”

True to his word, Dr. James escorted her to the large “office” that housed one of the richest people in the world. 

Elisa looked around the large room in awe. She and the doctor were the only people in the room at the moment, and Elisa had the urge to speak in hushed tones.

From the burgundy plush carpet to the oversized mahogany desk with the wall of television monitors lining the wall behind it, the room screamed “money”. 

“I’ll go get that medicine for you,” Dr James said. “I’m sure that Mr Xanatos will be here any moment.”

“Alright,” Elisa said, absently. She never even heard the doors close behind the doctor.

There was an undeniable feeling of familiarity here. Actually, it had been with her since the elevator doors had opened revealing the castle walls. 

Elisa wandered over to the large wall of windows that ran the length of one wall of the office. The sun’s last rays had faded from the sky, leaving only the inky blackness of night behind. Muted lights from outside lit what looked to be a medieval courtyard, similar to the layout of her own rooftop courtyard at her condo. Her curiosity kicked in, and remembering the doctor’s own words, she followed her gut feelings and pushed open the glass door to the outside.

The cool night air was helping to clear her head. She closed her eyes, raising her face to the night sky. She must have been a real night owl, she thought to herself. She felt more awake right now, more aware, than she had been in a while.

In the quiet of the night, sudden raised voices reached her ears. There were a lot of voices, both male and female, all speaking at once.

And they seemed to be coming from somewhere above her.

Two voices struck her as familiar. One of which she couldn’t place, but it was the deep rumbling of a male’s voice. The other, definitely female and sounding a little panicked, was Beth’s.

Face still turned upwards, Elisa opened her eyes, trying to follow the voices.

There was Beth, a few stories up, standing on one of the upper walkways around one of the towers. She appeared to be having a very animated conversation with someone.

Concerned, Elisa tried to focus on the conversation, but couldn’t make out any individual words. As she watched, Beth’s gestures started getting larger and more frantic.

Feeling like something was going horribly wrong, even if she didn’t know the situation, Elisa set out to find a way up to her sister. She ran through the office, throwing the door open and turning left, in the direction of the tower. She raced up the two flights of stairs that she found there, winding its way up the rounded tower walls. Finding a door there, Elisa put her ear to the door and listened. The voices were louder here, but she still couldn't make out the words. Elisa tried to turn the doorknob silently, praying that the door hinges wouldn’t give away her presence, Elisa pushed open the door.

“... she’s alive,” a female voice asked softly.

“Yes,” Beth said. 

“Then I must see her,” came the deep voice.

“No,” Beth burst out, frustration coloring her words. “She doesn’t remember you.  _ Any _ of you.”

“But we dealt with it before,” the first female voice said. “She remembered us eventually.”

“Last time it only took a couple of days, right?” Beth said. “It has been  _ months,  _ Angela. She doesn’t remember anything about her life.”

“Maybe if we could talk to the lass,” Came an unfamiliar scottish accented voice.

“I don’t think so, Hudson,” Beth answered. “If I thought it would help, I would bend over backward to help, but she…”

“I want to see her,” The deep voice said again.

“Goliath,” Beth said in a calming voice. “I know you want to see her. Before she disappeared, she told me that you were engaged…”

Surprised, Elisa opened the door just a little more. Elisa had been engaged? She had seen the ring in her possessions, but hadn’t known it was an engagement ring!

A deep growl stopped Elisa in her tracks, making her freeze in place.

Suddenly, there was a scratching at the door that Elisa was holding cracked open. There was a canine sounding whine, and a paw with some very large claws worked their way in between the door and the frame. Surprised, Elisa lost her grip on the door knob, and the paw flung the door open. 

Elisa found herself face to face with a large blue dog-like creature.

Elisa screamed and flung herself backwards, her back slamming into the nearest wall, trying to prepare herself for being mauled. Possibly to death. 

Elisa slammed her eyes shut.

There was the scraping sound of running feet on stone, signalling that she had been heard. They wouldn’t make it in time, she knew, and waited for those razor sharp looking teeth to pierce her flesh.

Instead, a large, wet tongue swiped at her face from her chin to the top of her head. Repeatedly. Happy dog noises accompanied the actions, and convinced Elisa to cautiously open her eyes.

The dark blueish-black skin of a very large, hairless… thing… a dog?... stared back at her, his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth.

Despite the suddenly friendly demeanor, Elisa did not break eye contact.

Voices were louder, and suddenly hands were reaching in to haul the animal outside. The creature was dragged away, his growls and whines trailing behind him. On his way back through the door, his claws caught at the door, shutting it again.

“What’s wrong with Bronx?” Beth’s voice called out.

“I dinnae know, lass,” The scottish accent said.

“He’s trying to get back through that door,” the other female voice said.

Elisa scrambled to her feet, fully intending on leaving. She would go back to the nice, quiet office and accept whatever drugs that the doctor would give her. 

Clearly, she was losing her mind.

Suddenly, the door was thrown open once more, causing another scream to come from Elisa’s throat. A large, chiseled face filled the doorway, most of the features were lost in the shadows from the bright overhead light.

Elisa covered her mouth to muffle the scream.

“Elisa?” the deep, rumbling voice that she’d heard through the door now filled the small tower room. A sudden pain, eclipsing every headache that she had ever had, burst in her head behind her eyes.

“Elisa!” Strong arms wrapped her protectively against a very firm, very warm and very bare chest. “What has happened?” Elisa felt herself lifted into the man’s arms, and suddenly the cool night air was hitting her face again. He had taken her back outside.

“Elisa?” Beth’s voice called out in surprise. “What’s going on?”

Elisa could only whimper in response. The raised voices bounced around the pain-filled void that was her head.

“She’s hurt,” Tall, dark and sexy voiced said. “She needs help.”

Elisa made a mental note that until she learned his actual name, this guy was going to be called, “Captain Obvious”.

“She was just with Dr. James,” Beth was saying. “Maybe we should take her back to him.”

“Yes,” Captain obvious said, “I will take her.”

“I’ll call Dr James and let him know that you’re coming.” Beth said, hurrying off to alert the physician that something had gone horribly wrong.


	33. Chapter 33

Wind was whipping past her, but judging by the lights and shadows that were dancing across Elisa’s closed eyelids, she knew that she was not outside anymore. Elisa had a moment to think that whoever was carrying her was really  _ really _ fast, When more voices joined the first.

“What happened?” Another female voice.

“Goliath? What…” Another male voice.

“Put her on the couch.” Finally, a familiar voice that she recognized as the doctor’s voice.

Elisa was gently lowered onto a long, soft surface. The lack of moving was helping her to not feel as if her head was about to fall off her shoulders, but it was still almost unbearable.

“Elisa,” Dr James said softly, kneeling by her side. “I have a strong pain reliever here that I was bringing up to you. It is a shot, so there is going to be a sting.”

“Okay,” Elisa managed to get out on a whimper.

Elisa flinched a little at the feel of the needle piercing the skin on her arm, but within only a few moments felt the pain medication kicking in.

When she could concentrate on something other than the pounding in her head, she tried to listen to the suddenly hushed conversation.

“Can we dim the lights?” Dr James asked. “She may still be light sensitive, and we need to give the medication time to work. She should be feeling the effects of the medicine soon, and hopefully, it will help her calm down, too. Keeping her calm and relaxed is crucial right now. She needs time for her brain to try to heal.”

The lights dimmed dramatically, so that even through her closed eyes, Elisa felt relief.

The sound of soft footfalls on the plush carpeting was the only clue for a few moments that anyone was still in the room.

“How did she get up to the tower?” Beth asked. “Do you think she remembered the way up there?”

“It’s possible,” Dr. James said. “She told me that she has been having these headaches, and I am hoping that means that her brain is figuring out new pathways around what trauma it experienced.”

“You mean like how she was shot?” Beth asked. 

“Well, there is that…” He answered slowly. “But there’s also the fact that she had been missing quite a while, and in that time, we have no idea what happened to her that would cause this kind of amnesia.”

There was a deep, animalistic growl that startled Elisa.

“Goliath,” the unknown female voice in the room said, warningly.

Elisa pried her eyes open slowly, trying to make out who all was in the room. The lights had been dimmed to the point that the main light source in the room was from a fireplace that Elisa hadn’t noticed before. While it had helped tremendously having the lights gone, it also made seeing the people gathered across the room difficult in the flickering firelight. 

Beth and Dr. James were there, as was a tall man in a suit that she was assuming was Mr. Xanatos, the owner of this monstrosity of a building. 

There was a tall, thin red haired woman beside him, wearing black jeans and a long sleeved red shirt. The red head’s back was turned towards Elisa, but since she had her arm threaded through the man in the suit, Elisa assumed she was the man’s wife.

They were far enough in the corner, that Elisa couldn’t really see who belonged to the big booming voice. The one who had carried her down several flights of stairs with such speed and ease.

Elisa kept hearing them call someone “Goliath” who was supposed to be her fiance... Was that his name, or his nickname? Had he waited for her, or had he given up trying to find her? Was he as kind as he seemed?

Elisa sat upright, trying to look through the sudden haziness of the heavy medication. 

Everyone else was caught up in their conversation that no one had noticed that she was still awake. That suited Elisa just fine. Everyone was walking on eggshells around her, afraid of overloading her with too much information that she could find out more if they thought she was asleep. 

“What did Matt find out?” Beth asked.

“You are not going to believe it,” Mr Xanatos said, and Elisa could almost hear a smirk in his voice. “After all of the work that we have been putting into catching the last of the Hunters, Elisa caught him for us. Even with her memory gone, she’s making the streets safer.”

“What?” The deep voice exclaimed. “Canmore was that close to her again?”

“He had been arrested yesterday,” Xanatos said. “Unfortunately, the persona that he had adopted to remain hidden, was a law abiding citizen. He’d had some plastic surgery so that he wasn’t immediately identifiable. Except for some ominous comments that he had made to someone regarding Elisa’s whereabouts, they had no evidence against him. Legally they could only hold him for 24 hours, then they had to let him go. Ironically, he was being processed out and released when he tried to attack Elisa. In the police station.”

“Elisa took him down,” Beth hurried to add. “Your lady can still kick some serious butt.”

“Yes, well,” Xanatos said, smoothly continuing his story, “As it so happens, Elisa dislocated Canmore’s knee, broke his nose and gave the police more than one good reason to lock him up. It turns out that he had been wearing colored contacts, and had dyed his hair. He didn’t resemble any of his descriptions or police photos. When Wonder Woman over there knocked him on the ground, she had dislocated one of his contacts and one of the officers realized that something wasn’t right. He did some checking, and finally got a fingerprint match for him through interpol.”

“Interpol?” The red haired woman exclaimed. “Really?”

“He was the youngest sibling, and his older brother and sister were always covering for him.” David Xanatos pointed out. “He was arrested once for disturbing the peace when he was younger, and once more as an adult for suspicion of terrorist activities. The Canmore siblings skipped town before that one could stick, however. When the interpol information came through, that was when the reports of his escaping from prison started popping up.

“They still have his prints in the system for his time in prison, but the results from the local print scans were slow in processing. The alert came through while he was on the way to get treatment of his injuries.”

“But he’s in jail now, right?” Beth asked fearfully.

“I believe that he is either still at the hospital, getting patched up from the ass kicking that Elisa gave him.” Xanatos said, happily. He had been on the receiving end of Elisa’s wrath more than once, and so he had a feeling what Canmore was feeling at the moment. “Or he will be on his way to a maximum security prison under heavy guard.”

“That’s not good enough,” Mr. Deep Voice responded. “He escaped from there once before, and I will not have him threaten us again.”

“I am pulling every string that I can,” Mr Xanatos said, calm in the face of the angry tone that was directed towards him. “Matt is working on it as well. There are places within the Illuminati that are made to keep people locked up and hidden so deep that they’ll never see daylight again.”

“I’m not sure I should be hearing this,” Beth said, uneasily.

“It is not enough,” Goliath insisted. 

“It may not seem that way,” Mrs Xanatos said softly. “But I can assure you that he will not bother anyone again.”

“The only other option,” Xanatos said, with a fair share of snark, “is to let him go back to Attacca and wait for the next time he escapes.”

“How did he get out the first time?” Dr James asked.

“It seems that he romanced one of the new female guards there, and convinced her that if she could get him out, that they would live happily ever after in some cozy little non-extradition country.” Xanatos replied. “Needless to say, she now has a jail cell all her own to call home.”

Goliath heaved a deep, frustrated sigh, and stormed outside into the courtyard. 

Elisa pushed herself up into a sitting position. She was suddenly feeling amazing now that her head didn’t feel like it was full of glass shards. She got to her feet, wobbled a little, but righted herself. As quietly as she could, she made her way towards the open door where Goliath had stormed through.

She was tired of everyone trying to talk around her. If she and this “Goliath” were once engaged to be married, maybe seeing him would jog a memory or something.

It was worth a shot.

Quietly, Elisa slipped through the door without anyone seeing her. 

Looking around the courtyard, Elisa couldn’t see anyone there. She could have sworn that he had come out here…

Looking up, she spotted a tall form disappearing at the top of the stone stairs leading to the battlements above. Elisa hurried to the stairs and began the trek up.

She was halfway up the stairs when she felt the first major wave of dizziness from the medication. Stopping, she propped her hand against the wall, laying her forehead against the cool stone. This was probably not the best of ideas, she had to admit. She was only half of the way to the top of a ridiculously steep stone staircase that had a stone wall on one side and a sheer drop to the courtyard on the other. 

Elisa closed her eyes and took a couple of deep breaths to try to regain her equilibrium. 

When she felt a little more steady, she opened her eyes, scouting the area for the tall man. She spotted his silhouette farther along the wall, and once again began climbing the stairs. Finally, after what seemed like hours, she reached the top, and thanked her lucky stars that she had made it safely.

Elisa looked along the wall, and spotted the figure still there. There were no electric lights up this high, so it was fairly dark. The moonlight helped a little, but Elisa found herself depending on her night vision.

Elisa made her way towards him slowly. Using the raised square merlons of the battlement walkway. 

That made Elisa pause for a moment. Why did she know what any part of a castle was called? Everyone here seemed to know her, so maybe they had given her a very detailed tour?

Shaking her head lightly, she reminded herself of the task that was at hand. 

Once more on her way, she tried to keep her eyes on the silent figure ahead of her.

Damn, but she was tired all of a sudden. Goliath was still so far away, too. 

Elisa heaved a frustrated sigh and swore softly. 

“Elisa?” came a surprised male voice…  **_from above her_ ** ?

Elisa’s head whipped up to see a large… she didn’t know what. It was a large black cat looking creature with huge bat-like wings. 

Either those were  _ really _ strong drugs that the doctor had given her, or…

Elisa screamed as the creature flew right at her. Backing up instinctively, she hit the lowest part of the wall, between the raised merlons, and fell. Elisa screamed again as the wind rushed past her and the ground began rushing up to meet her.

There was a whooshing noise, and suddenly a pair of familiar, strong arms were holding her tightly. There was a sudden jolt, as their descent was brought up short, and a weightlessness as they began to climb.

Elisa buried her face against the strong chest.

Goliath looked down in relief at the small, lovely human in his arms. He had tried to abide by Beth’s wishes, but he had wanted so badly to hold her like this again, it had almost killed him. When he had found her earlier, in pain and frightened by Bronx’s appearance, he had not thought, only picked her up and ran to find her help.

Then, after hearing that Jon Canmore was once more going to be kept in a prison where he could come after them again, especially Elisa, he had to walk away to think.

Talon’s sudden appearance probably had not helped her frame of mind any, either. 

He had heard her scream and had looked to see her disappear over the edge. He hadn’t thought about it, he had simply dove over the edge to catch her. Talon hadn’t been far behind, but Goliath had reached her first, wrapping her protectively in his arms.

He had promised her a long time ago to always catch her if she fell.

He extended his wings, and used the air currents to carry them both back up to the castle. He felt her tremble in fear, and wished that there was something, anything, he could say to comfort her but was afraid to try.

She was obviously frightened, confused and lost. She had no memories of her life, the clan and no memories of their time together.

As they sailed over the side of the castle’s wall, he found Talon already there with the clan and the small group of anxious humans.

Goliath set down as gently as he could, and wrapped his wings around Elisa’s small form, selfishly just wanting to hold her for a few more moments before he had to let her go.

Her trembling had stopped sometime just before they had gotten back to the castle levels, and so Goliath closed his eyes, laying his cheek against the top of her head. 

“You caught me,” Elisa said softly. “You always catch me.”


	34. Chapter 34

Goliath's eyes sprung open, and he looked down at her in surprise.

“I will always be here to catch you, My Elisa.” he said with a gentle smile.

Elisa was looking up at him in wonder, but Goliath could see that there was still a shadow of confusion in her eyes. 

“Why do I know you, and nothing and no one else?” Elisa asked, lifting her hand to his jaw. “I can’t remember my job, friends, or even my family… But you, I remember, Goliath.”

Goliath couldn’t help the joyful smile that spread across his face. He ran a taloned hand through her hair and frowned. “I am not very fond of your new haircut.”

Elisa brought her hands up to cover her hair. “It’ll grow out, but… do you really hate it?”

Goliath laughed, sweeping her back up into his arms. “Elisa, I do not love you for your hair. I love you for who you are.”

“Good answer,” Talon said from the gathered crowd.

Goliath sent Elisa’s brother an annoyed look.

Elisa, suddenly realizing that there was a crowd, hid her face against Goliath’s chest and groaned.

Beth slapped her brother upside the head. “Good going, fur ball.”

“What?” Talon asked, arms wide in an “I’m innocent” gesture.

Elisa took a deep breath to steady herself. Turning, she faced the small crowd in the courtyard.

Dr James, taking pity on her, stepped forward first. “Headache gone?”

Elisa nodded. “Yeah, it’s gone.”

“Still some memory loss?”

“Yes.”

“But,” he gestured at Goliath, “You remember this big guy, so you obviously had some memory recovery.”

Elisa nodded again.

“That’s an excellent sign,” he assured her. “The rest will come when you are ready. Don’t push it, though.” He looked at Goliath, “Try to get her to take things a little slower, will you?”

“I will try,” Goliath agreed, solemnly.

“Thank you,” Dr James said. He dismissed himself then, leaving the group to reintroduce themselves.

But… Elisa had recovered a memory tonight. He was confident that she would recover more soon.

Goliath kept an arm thrown over Elisa’s shoulders for support. 

“Hey, Elisa,” Talon said, apologetically, “I’m sorry for scaring you so bad, back there.”

“Yeah,” Beth snapped at him. “What happened to the whole “I just wanna see her, and she’ll never know I was there” thing?”

Talon rolled his eyes. “Beth, I tried, but you guys never went back to Elisa’s place. I thought I’d pop over here in case her appointment had run over,” He shrugged, “I didn’t think she’d be outside, or I would have been a little more careful.”

Beth covered her face with her hands and groaned.

“Which reminds me,” he said, glaring at her, “She was out here. Alone. When you were supposed to be watching out for her. Again.”

“I know,” Beth all but wailed. “But you know Elisa! Even without her memories, she’s still stubborn and sneaky!”

“Dad’s going to kill you,” Talon said, ruffling her hair.

“It’s not Dad that I’m worried about,” Beth pointed out.

“Yeah, it’s Mom,” Talon said, cringing. “Ouch.”

Elisa looked at Goliath, confused. “Who’s the cat?” she whispered.

“Uh,” Goliath hesitated, not knowing how well she would take the news that it was her genetically altered brother.

Talon, hearing Elisa’s question, walked forward, clawed hand extended. “Elisa, my name is Talon.”

“Nice to meet you,” Elisa said, hesitantly taking his hand.

“You really don’t have any idea who I am?” he asked, frowning and sounding so disappointed, that Elisa felt horrible having to admit that she didn’t.

“No, I’m sorry… Ouch!” Elisa jumped and pulled her hand back as she’d felt a sharp electrical jolt run through her.

“Talon,” Goliath growled warningly.

“Sorry,” Talon said, holding his fisted hands at his sides. “High emotional stress does that sometimes.”

“I thought you had better control than that!” Beth said sternly.

Talon rolled his eyes skyward. “Seriously, Beth, it’s not like I do it on purpose. Besides, it’s not like I have practiced for just this occasion. I didn’t see this one coming.”

Elisa ignored their back and forth banter. She was staring at her hand.

That had happened before, she knew. It hadn’t hurt, it had been more like a sharp tingling when a limb went to sleep…

That small bit of familiarity, along with the very brother and sister like arguing finally clicked in Elisa’s head.

“Derek?” Elisa asked, hesitantly, not sure if she trusted her memories just yet.

The small crowd stopped talking immediately. 

Talon grinned hugely. “You are the only one who still calls me that,” He said softly.

“Oh my god,” Elisa gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. She stepped away from Goliath and threw herself into her brother’s arms. “Derek,” She cried, hugging him tightly.

Derek hugged his big sister. “Glad you’re back, Elisa. The memory is just a bonus.”

Elisa opened her eyes, and spotted Beth. She held out her hand to Beth, and finally the three Maza siblings were together again.

Tears and Laughter were shared between them. Talon, in true little brother fashion, felt the need to pick on Elisa’s new hairstyle. Elisa, in big sister style, felt the need to point out that at least she had a style.

When the three of them were finally able to let go, Elisa looked to the clan.

Smiling, she walked towards the clan’s eldest member. She held out her arm. “Hudson,” Elisa said, happily. 

“Lass,” He returned, gripping her forearm in the old warrior’s greeting. “It’s good tae see you.”

Elisa leaned in to hug the old warrior. “I don’t know how I could have ever forgotten you.”

“Ye didnae forget us, Lass,” he admonished, taking her by the shoulders. “You just misplaced the memories for a bit.”

“But we’re glad you found them again,” Brooklyn said, stepping forward. 

“Brooklyn,” Elisa greeted next.

One by one, she greeted them all. Broadway, Lexington and Angela were just as enthusiastic with their greetings. Even Bronx had trouble containing his excitement.

Elisa was so thrilled to finally have her memories back, that she even greeted the Xanatos’ with something close to enthusiasm. They had too much history to ever be considered family, but Elisa was getting closer and closer to thinking of them as friends.

Finally, Elisa returned to Goliath’s side.

“Hey, Big Guy,” Elisa whispered.

Goliath reached out to sweep her into his arms. He had been patient, watching everyone have a turn to greet her, but it was his time now. 

Knowing that the couple needed some time to themselves, everyone else slowly retreated into the castle.

He had been so fearful for so long. He had never really given up hope, but it had been a close call sometimes. Every night, waking without her there, had been a special kind of living hell that he chose not to repeat.

“Elisa,” He breathed into her hair. “I am so thankful to have you home.”

“No more than I am to be home,” Elisa said softly so that only his ears would hear. “Goliath,” she pulled away to look up into his face. “That last night, before… well… everything up to now… I said a lot of things I didn’t mean…”

“Shhh,” Goliath hushed her. “You need not apologize, My Elisa. I could tell that something was bothering you. I was more hurt that you were choosing not to tell me what it was so that I could help.”

Elisa laughed, harshly, wiping tears off of her face. “Ironically, I was upset over Canmore escaping from prison. After you left, I went out and had way too much to drink, and ended up walking into Canmore’s trap anyway.”

Goliath roughly pulled her back into his arms. “I kept hearing that gun firing, over and over in my mind.” He admitted. “You were injured, and there was nothing I could do to help you.”

Elisa held him tightly. “Let’s make a deal,” she suggested. “I will try to be more honest with my feelings, and the fact that there is someone in my life now, that I owe that honesty to.”

“And I will never leave you when I am angry,” Goliath promised. “I will never again give you cause to doubt what I feel.”

“What  _ we _ feel,” Elisa corrected him.

“Yes,” He agreed. “What  _ we  _ feel.”

“I love you, Big Guy,” Elisa said.

“And I love you, My Elisa,” He said.

They came together in a kiss that was meant to bridge the time between when they had last been together and this one.

“Elisa,” Goliath said, getting to one knee as he had seen humans doing. “I want to ask you once more, will you be my wife?”

Elisa smiled, laughing and threw herself into his arms. “Yes! Of course I will!”


	35. Epilogue

**EPILOGUE:**

One Month Later

The wedding was what every girl dreamed of when they were young. 

After all, who wouldn't want to be married in a castle in the clouds?

Elisa, never one for planning parties and events, gladly passed on that part of things to Fox Xanatos. Fox took the reins and hit the ground running. In the short 30 days that she was given, the flame haired ex-villain had created an amazing atmosphere that was nothing short of a miracle.

It was a small ceremony, but Fox left nothing out. The Great Hall had been transformed for the night into a candle lit dream.

Arrangements of red roses and white lilies adorned the walls, tables, numerous candelabras and were mirrored in the bouquets that the bridal attendants carried. 

Two small rows of chairs had been placed facing the huge fireplace at the end of the room. Each round backed chair had been draped in a white gauzy material, and held in place by a wide red ribbon tied in a bow in the back.

The gathering was small, intimate, and everyone who were friends or family were in attendance. Some of the friends were old, and a few of them were new, but all were welcome.

Elisa had three bridesmaids; Angela, Pamela and Margaret.

Admittedly, Margaret's introduction to the clan had been a little rough. She was from New Jersey, after all, and while the Gargoyles did make the news out there, it wasn’t nearly as visible as it was in Manhattan. Margaret had initially panicked, but came to accept them soon enough. Now she was so proud to be included in the exclusive “I met a gargoyle in person” club.

The guests began to quiet as the music began playing from the hidden sound system speakers that the Xanatos’ had sprung for. Soft and romantic selections began playing, the sounds of string instruments filled the room.

There was a long, red velvet aisle runner that led from the french doors to the fireplace, where Goliath entered to stand and wait for his bride.

The bridesmaids entered in their deep red medieval style inspired gowns, on the arms of Goliath's groomsmen. Broadway escorted Angela, Matt was with Pamela and Brooklyn was paired up with Margaret. 

Just before Elisa made her appearance, Hudson joined Goliath at the front of the long room. He had been pleased and honored that the couple had asked him to officiate, and had taken a long time to learn the traditions of a human ceremony as well as brushing up on the Gargoyle side of things. 

The music swelled, and the large solid wood doors at the other end of the hall opened.

Peter walked in first, chest puffed up in pride. He reached back through the door to offer his arm to his daughter, and escort her down the plush carpeted aisle.

Elisa came into view then, eliciting gasps and smiles from everyone in the room. 

Elisa wore a similarly styled gown to her bridesmaids, but hers was a snowy white. The sleeves ended in wide bell shapes that hung almost to the floor, and a very full skirt billowed around her legs. There were tiny crystalline designs along the low, square neckline, and along the bottom edge of her skirt. A long, white satin cape was draped over her shoulders, trailing behind her in lieu of a train. 

Instead of a veil, she wore a wreath of small red and white roses.

Goliath found himself in awe of her as she walked to meet him at the end of the isle.

Elisa and Goliath, in a concession to the combined ceremony, wrote vows of their own for each other.

Goliath placed the delicate gold wedding band on Elisa’s finger, his voice strong and steady as he recited, “Like a lighthouse on a dark night, Your smile always shined brightly and with that lightly lit smile you have made me better. For only with you in my life do I understand what it means to be complete. I love you because you are my rock and my everything. I love you because you are the one that completes me and you are the one that lights the road ahead. Without you, without your love, I would be lost. You are the stars, the moon, the sun, and every other light in my life.  I promise you my unconditional love, and undying devotion. To not ask you to be more than you are, and to love you for being you. My commitment to you is one if give willingly, absolutely, and without hesitation. I am yours utterly and have been since the moment we met and will always be. I take you as my wife, and pledge a vow of honesty and fidelity. It is one I give willingly, easily, gracefully, at this moment and for our whole lives.” He raised her hand to his lips, placing a gentle kiss on her fingers.

He raised his eyes to hers and whispered softly, “And I will always be there to catch you.” 

Elisa smiled at him, and raised a hand to his cheek as she recited her own vows. “A part of me wants the world to stop in this moment that is just us at our happiest, but I also wanted it to keep going forever so that we could have so many more. Not just for this moment, not for an hour, or day, or year - I will always love you. I wasn’t sure if being in love was more like flying or falling, but I certainly was airborne either way. If every second I spent loving you gave me a second to fly, I'd never touch the ground.  Our love is unique and will be cherished. I enter into this life with you without reservation, without fear or confusion, but with a clear and trusting heart. I take you as my husband, and pledge a vow of honesty and fidelity. It is one I give willingly, easily, gracefully, at this moment and for our whole lives.”

She took the large ring that she had ordered for him, slipping it onto his own finger. “Everything will be fine, because we’ll be together,” she whispered for his ears only.

The bride and groom kissed to the sound of cheers from those gathered to witness.

Those family and friends who had come, stood and began showering the couple with handfuls of rose petals.

“I love you, big guy,” the bride whispered in her new husband’s ear.

“And I love you, my Elisa,” he whispered back.

Together, hand in hand, they turned to face their new life that stretched out before them.


End file.
